THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


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'  '    ~-  *  — — -*--'—      -.iff*.   .    •  ,wu 

AN  EGYPTIAN  VILLAGE  WOMAN  FILLING  HER  JAR  FROM  THE  NILE. 

[Frontispiece 


THE 

WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


BY  / 

ELIZABETH  COOPER 

author  of 
"my  lady  of  the  chinese  courtyard" 
"the  soul  traders,"  "sayonara" 

ETC. 


WITH  FIFTY-ONE  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 
1914 


PRINTED  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 


TO 

MALAK  EL  BASSEL 

THROUGH  WHOSE  FRIENDSHIP  AND  GUIDANCE 
I  WAS  ENABLED  TO  SEE  THE  WOMAN 
OF  EGYPT  FROM  BEHIND  THE 
MOUSHRABEAH 


PREFACE 


BEFORE  visiting  the  Orient  I  endeavoured  to 
learn  from  books  something  in  relation  to 
the  woman  of  Egypt.  I  found  much  writ- 
ing relative  to  ancient  Egypt,  its  history  and  its 
temples,  also  many  books  dealing  with  the  political 
aspects  of  the  present-day  country  of  the  Nile.  In 
all  these  treatises,  however,  I  looked  vainly  for 
information  concerning  the  woman.  Through  my 
friendship  with  Egyptian  women  I  was  permitted 
to  visit  in  the  homes  and  learn  the  customs  and 
life,  to  a  degree  at  least,  of  the  women  of  various 
classes,  both  Egyptian  and  Bedouin.  I  visited  the 
girls'  schools  and  saw  young  Egypt  at  study.  I 
visited  the  Missions,  the  hospitals,  learning  there 
the  crying  need  of  the  woman  for  a  larger  know- 
ledge of  sanitary  laws.  Much  was  gained  from 
those  who  have  looked  upon  the  woman  of  Egypt 
from  the  point  of  view  of  her  moral  and  religious 
development.    Through  my  housekeeping  experi- 

9 


10  PREFACE 


ences  in  Cairo  I  discovered  conditions  relative  to 
the  working  woman  and  the  labouring  class  which 
can  only  be  observed  by  a  householder. 

Although  I  am  well  aware  that  the  woman  of 
Egypt,  lodged  in  her  traditions  and  conservatism,  is 
not  readily  revealed,  especially  to  an  outsider,  it  is 
my  hope  that  these  pages  may  afford  a  glimpse  into 
the  modern  life  and  problems  confronting  her  in 
the  present  rapid  and  revolutionary  changes  which 
Egypt  is  now  experiencing  in  common  with  the 
entire  Eastern  world. 

E.  C. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

EGYPT'S  HOPE  AND  EGYPT'S  HANDICAP  .  21 

"  As  go  the  women  of  Egypt,  so  goes  Egypt  " — Isolated 
womanhood — Changing  conditions. 

CHAPTER  II 

COSMOPOLITAN  CAIRO    .....  31 

Theatrical  effects  for  the  tourist — Everyday  life  in  the 
streets — The  traveller's  paradise — The  bazaars — 
"Come  to  Prayer" — Cairo's  mosques — Where  the 
men  of  Egypt  meet :  the  cafes — Out-of-door  restaur- 
ants— Where  West  meets  East. 

CHAPTER  III 

LIFE  ALONG  THE  NILE  ....  73 

Palm-thatched    houses  and  desert  sands — Old  wives' 
fables — How  rural  women  live — "  Turn,  O  Sakkia  " 
11 


12 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IV 

PAGE 

KEEPING  HOUSE  INjCAIRO     ....  98 

House-hunting — -The  eternal  servant  question — Where 
Arab  shrewdness  reigns— The  market-place — Cairo's 
minarets  from  our  window. 


CHAPTER  V 

FEMININE  CHARACTERISTICS  ....  126 

The  Egyptian  lady — The  woman  of  the  middle  class — 
The  woman  who  works — The  Fellaha — The  woman  of 
the  desert. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EGYPTIAN  WOMEN  AT  SCHOOL        .  .  .  l6l 

A  vital  awakening — Household  economy — Government 
schools — Teaching  a  new  vocation — Education  un- 
locking harem  doors. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  EGYPTIAN  HAREM  .  .  .  .  l8o 

Seclusion,  its  origin  and  power — Influence  of  the  Koran — 
Social  life  behind  closed  doors — An  afternoon  visit  to 
feminine  Egypt — Woman  the  preserver  of  the  harem. 


CONTENTS 


13 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

MARRIAGE  200 

No  spinsters  in  Egypt — The  Egyptian  girl's  betrothal — 
Exchange  of  presents — Marriage  festivities — Cupid's 
tragedy. 

CHAPTER  IX 

DIVORCE  AND  POLYGAMY       .  .  .  .     214  , 

Egypt's  triple  divorce — The  destruction  of  community 
interest — Effect  upon  the  children — Economics  and 
polygamy — The  voice  and  example  of  the  Arabian 
Prophet. 

CHAPTER  X 

AMUSEMENTS  OF  THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMEN  .  224 

A  specialist  in  the  household — When  the  West  drinks 
tea,  the  East  drinks  coffee — Gossip,  dress,  and 
jewellery — A  dinner-party  in  No  Man's  Land — Court- 
yard shopping — The  Egyptian  an  anti-suffragette. 

CHAPTER  XI 

HOSPITALITY         ......  242 

"  Every  stranger  an  invited  guest " — In  a  modern  Bedouin 
tent — The  heritage  of  the  Nomad — Tribal  customs — 
Who  would  ride  a  camel  ? — The  simple  virtues  of  a 
primitive  people. 


14 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XII 

PAGE 

THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN  AND  HER  CHILDREN  .  285 

"  Sons,  sons,  give  me  sons  !  " — Birthday  feasts — The  laws 
of  the  Prophet — A  survival  of  the  fittest — The 
children  of  the  soil. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SUPERSTITION       ......  299 

Fairies  and  "  Ginns  " — Guardian  angels — Egyptian 
woman  and  her  "  charms  " — The  "  Evil  Eye  " — 
The  Gods  of  the  Nile — Dreams. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

ISLAM  RELIGION  AND  THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN.  315 

Mohammed  the  Prophet — Koranic  laws  for  women — 
Islam,  a  man's  religion — Her  religious  point  of  view 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  COPTIC  RELIGION  .....  337 

"  What  is  a  Copt  ?  " — The  original  Egyptians — The 
disadvantages  of  a  minority  faith. 


CONTENTS 


15 


CHAPTER  XVI 

PAGE 

EGYPT  AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS    .  .  348 

Missionary  difficulties — Missionary  advances — Mission- 
ary methods — The  Missionary  the  pioneer  in  educa- 
tion, hospitals,  and  emancipation  of  women. 

CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  EGYPTIAN  QUESTION  AND  THE  EGYPTIAN 

WOMAN  ......  364 

The  New  Freedom — Influence  of  the  new  generation — 
A  time  of  transition — Love  and  the  right  to  choose 
her  mate. 

INDEX  377 


t 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

AN  EGYPTIAN  VILLAGE  WOMAN  FILLING  HER  JAR 

from  the  nile  ....  Frontispiece 


AN  EGYPTIAN  PEASANT  WOMAN  AND  HER  CHILDREN  25 

STREET  MERCHANTS  :     CAIRO    SHERBET— A  BLACK 

MAN  WITH  BEADS  AND  FLY  SWITCHES  .          .  35 

women  going  to  pay  a  visit  41 

a  water-carrier:  "sweet  water  for  sale"  45 

the  public  letter-writers,  cairo  ...  49 

street  merchants :  fresh  bread — everything 

for  the  kitchen   53 

loading  onions  on  the  bank  of  the  nile     .  6l 

the  great  sphinx  and  the  pyramids     .       .  69 

a  dahabiyeh  on  the  nile      ....  75 

bread  in  assiut  :  put  in  the  sunny  street  to 

RISE   79 

PIGEON-HOUSES  IN  A  VILLAGE    ....  83 

DRAWING  WATER        .          .          .          .          .  91 

17 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

AN  EGYPTIAN  VILLAGE  WOMAN  FILLING  HER  JAR 

from  the  nile  ....  Frontispiece 

PAGE 

an  egyptian  peasant  woman  and  her  children  25 

street  merchants  \    cairo  sherbet— a  black 

man  with  beads  and  fly  switches  .       .  35 

women  going  to  pay  a  visit  4i 

a  water-carrier:  "sweet  water  for  sale"  45 

the  public  letter-writers,  cairo  ...  49 

street  merchants  :  fresh  bread — everything 

for  the  kitchen      .....  53 

loading  onions  on  the  bank  of  the  nile     .  6l 

the  great  sphinx  and  the  pyramids     .       .  69 

a  dahabiyeh  on  the  nile      ....  75 

bread  in  assiut  :  put  in  the  sunny  street  to 

RISE                                                            .         •  79 

PIGEON-HOUSES  IN  A  VILLAGE    ....  83 

DRAWING  WATER        .  '       .          .          .          .  91 

17 


18  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

LICENSED  PORTER  IN  THE  MARKET,  CAIRO   .          .  I03 

SPINACH  FOR  SALE   IO7 

AN  ORANGE-WOMAN    .  .  .  .  .  .Ill 

LITTLE   GIRLS   WHO    BEG   TO   CARRY   HOME  YOUR 

PURCHASES   115 

ALFALFA  FRESH  FROM  THE  FIELDS       .          .          .  II 9 

THE  SEWING  LADY   I23 

A   LAUNDRY  WOMAN  CARRYING  CLOTHES  ON  HER 

HEAD   127 

EGYPTIAN  LADY  IN  STREET  DRESS       .          .          .  I3I 

A  CAIRO  LADY  IN  STREET  DRESS          .          .          .  I35 

A  WOMAN  OF  THE  LABOURING  CLASSES         .  -139 

FEAST    DRESS    OF    THE    LOWER-CLASS  EGYPTIAN 

WOMAN       .          .          .          .          .          .          .  I43 

AN  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN  CARRYING  WATER      .          .  I47 

water-carriers:  ONE  WITH  A  NATIVE  JAR,  AND 

ONE  WITH  A  STANDARD  OIL  TIN  .          .          .  I5I 

A  WOMAN  OF  THE  DESERT           ....  I55 

AN  EGYPTIAN  GIRL  CARRYING  WATER.          .          .  I59 

GIRLS'  COLLEGE,  CAIRO   163 

INTERIOR  OF  A  MOSQUE,  EL  AZHAR  (UNIVERSITY), 

CAIRO          .......  I7I 


ILLUSTRATIONS  19 

PAGE 

A  SHEIKH  175 

A  NATIVE  WOMAN  SELLING  FRUIT         .  .  .  l8l 

AN  ARAB  FAMILY  AT  DINNER       .  .  .  .  igO 

A    STREET    IN    CAIRO,    WITH    MOUSHRABEAHS  IN 


FRONT  OF  THE  UPPER  WINDOWS   .  .  .  203 

CAIRO  !    HOUSES    WITH    MOUSHRABEAHS  (LATTICES 


BEFORE  THE  WOMEN'S  QUARTERS) 

.  227 

BOATS  ON  THE  NILE 

•  237 

A  GUARD  AT  THE  BEDOUIN  CAMP 

•  243 

THE  BEDOUIN  CHIEF  .... 

• 

•  243 

A  BEDOUIN  TENT  .... 

.  249 

HOLDING  A  BEDOUIN  BABY 

.  26l 

EN  ROUTE  TO  THE  DESERT 

•  265 

MAKING  FRIENDS  WITH  A  CAMEL 

.  27I 

CARRYING  FAGGOTS  .... 

•  277 

YOUNG  EGYPT   

.  287 

A  YOUNG  EGYPTIAN  GIRL  . 

.  29I 

CHILDREN  FROM  A  VILLAGE  SCHOOL  . 

•  295 

THE  THREE  ATTITUDES  OF  PRAYER 

•  317 

GRADUATING  CLASS,  CAIRO 

•  357 

AN  EVENING  VIEW  OF  THE  PYRAMIDS 

• 

•  373 

2 


THE 

WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 

CHAPTER  I 

EGYPT'S  HOPE  AND  EGYPT'S  HANDICAP 

AS  go  the  women  of  Egypt,  so  goes  Egypt. 
In  the  ancient  land  of  the  Nile,  as  in  the 
newest  dependency  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, Longfellow's  words  are  true  : 

As  unto  the  bow  the  cord  is 

So  unto  man  is  woman. 

Though  she  bends  him,  she  obeys  him, 

Though  she  leads  him,  yet  she  follows  ; 

Useless  each  without  the  other. 

The  woman  of  Egypt  is  the  hope  of  Egypt, 
because  the  country  depends  upon  the  home,  and 
the  home  is  woman's  domain. 

If  woman  is  the  conservator  of  the  home  in  the 
West,  guarding  it  strictly  from  innovation  and 
change  because  it  represents  to  her  permanence, 

21 


22  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


and  is  veritably  her  throne,  the  woman  of  Egypt 
is  even  more  completely  synonymous  with  her 
home-life,  since  it  is  her  sole  kingdom,  the  only 
world  she  knows  or  sees.  Not  infrequently  she 
passes  her  life  in  a  single  humble  dwelling,  with  not 
so  much  as  a  visit  to  a  relative  or  a  friend,  while 
her  children  bear  the  stamp  of  her  mind  and  heart 
as  exactly  as  the  centuries-old  hieroglyphics  upon 
the  monuments  and  tombs  of  Egyptian  kings 
reflect  the  life  of  the  dweller  in  the  Nile  Valley 
to-day. 

What  the  woman  of  Egypt  is  in  the  home,  the 
man  of  Egypt  will  be  in  the  field,  in  the  shop,  and 
in  the  office,  while  the  youth  of  Egypt  will  carry 
the  influences  of  the  household  into  every  phase  of 
the  changing  progress  of  the  New  Egypt.  There 
is  indeed  no  "  Egyptian  Question  "  that  does  not 
include  the  consideration  of  the  Egyptian  woman  ; 
there  are  no  "  Capitulations,"  involving  the  sixteen 
world  Powers  in  the  political  guidance  of  this 
country,  more  intricate  than  is  the  life  of  woman, 
woven  as  it  is  into  custom,  tradition,  and  domes- 
ticity ;  she  is  the  first  architect  of  the  Egyptian's 
fate,  building  her  ideas  and  habits  into  the  aims 
and  ambitions  of  her  sons  and  daughters  ;  she  is 
the  key  to  Modern  Egypt. 


ISOLATED  WOMANHOOD  23 


The  Westerner's  attention  is  early  attracted,  in 
Alexandria  and  Cairo  especially,  to  the  womanless 
mosques,  the  womanless  cafes,  and  the  womanless 
public  assemblies.  The  first  question  naturally 
arising  is,  "Where  are  the  women?" 

One  finds  it  incredible,  even  when  told  by  those 
who  know,  that  the  women  of  humble  life  are 
often  domestic  prisoners  throughout  the  day  in 
the  rude  huts  of  the  fellaheen  or  tradesmen,  or 
that  the  chief  recreation  of  the  lady  is  to  sit  closely 
screened  behind  the  moushrabeah,  while  her  lord  and 
master  goes  forth  to  mix  with  men  and  affairs  in 
a  civilization  which  is  slowly  but  surely  flowing 
down  into  the  old  land  of  Saladin  from  the 
European  capitals. 

The  slow  progress  of  women  toward  modern 
ideas  is  not  difficult  to  appreciate  when  one  dis- 
covers that  they  are  frequently  the  companions 
of  beasts  and  primeval  conditions  for  the  greater 
part  of  their  days,  or  shut  up  to  shallow  thought, 
gossip,  and  purely  material  ideals,  conversing  only 
with  women  as  ignorant  as  they  are  themselves, 
their  mental  and  moral  growth  and  attractiveness, 
with  their  physical  charms,  fading  for  want  of 
light,  free  air,  and  exercise. 

The  usual  absence  of  sanitary  laws  and  medical  1 


24  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


attention  (these  women  are  never  allowed  a  man 
physician  except  in  extreme  cases)  add  to  the 
handicap  under  which  the  women  of  this  back- 
ward country  are  living. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  womanhood  of  Egypt 
has  been  compared  to  the  poisonous  roots  of  the 
upas-tree  which,  by  its  very  contagion,  dwarfs 
and  blights  the  whole  growth  and  structure  of  the 
national  body  ?  She  has  brought  to  her  sons 
and  husbands  through  decades,  not  hope,  not 
companionship,  not  equality  or  religion,  as  we 
are  accustomed  to  think  of  the  women  of  the  West 
contributing,  but  rather  a  benighted  conception 
of  home-life,  from  the  point  of  view  of  Western 
ideas,  and  this  condition  has  readily  become  the 
atmosphere  in  which  is  easily  bred  unrest,  intrigue, 
and  a  low  ideal  of  physical  relationships. 

It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that  the  woman 
of  Egypt  has  had  no  place  in  the  history  of  a  country 
with  a  great  ancient  civilization.  Early  records 
show  the  wives  of  kings  honoured  by  their  consorts 
and  respected  by  the  people.  A  thousand  years 
before  Abraham,  Egyptian  law  secured  to  women 
the  right  of  succession  to  the  throne,  and  queen 
after  queen  swayed  the  Empire  of  Egypt,  when 
Egypt  swayed  the  Empires  of  the  world.    One  of 


AN   EGYPTIAN    PEASANT  WOMAN    AND    HER  CHILDREN. 


RELICS  OF  THE  PAST  27 


the  oldest  sculptures  yet  recovered  from  the  ruins 
of  Egypt  represents  a  prince  and  princess,  husband 
and  wife,  seated  side  by  side.  The  tallest  monolith 
in  the  world  was  the  work  of  Queen  Hatshepsut. 
In  the  old  tombs  and  temples  are  pictures  of  queens 
riding  in  triumphant  processions,  and  Amenophis 
is  represented  riding  in  a  chariot  followed  by  the 
chariots  containing  his  seven  daughters.  One  of 
the  wives  of  Solomon  was  the  daughter  of  a  Pharaoh  ; 
special  honour  was  accorded  her,  a  magnificent 
palace  being  erected  for  her,  and  she  was  given  the 
privilege  of  worshipping  her  own  gods,  although 
this  was  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Israel. 

There  is  indication  that  something  of  this  old- 
time  prestige  and  dignity  may  again  be  the  boon 
of  the  Egyptian  woman,  and  that  she  will  prove 
in  the  modern  day  her  ability  to  serve  her 
husband  and  her  country  as  a  torch-bearer  and 
real  enlightener.  Already  the  woman  of  Egypt  has 
begun  her  escape  ;  she  has  not  only  looked  out, 
but  has  actually  begun  to  come  out  from  her  prison 
walls.  During  the  past  ten  years  especially,  the 
process  of  her  renaissance  has  been  comparatively 
rapid.  She  has  discovered  the  value  and  possi- 
bility of  education  ;  the  English  Government  has 
brought  to  her  schools  for  the  girl  children  of  the 


28 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


country  districts  where  young  women  are  learning 
freedom  and  efficiency  with  considerable  know- 
ledge of  the  outside  world.  From  the  kuttabs, 
the  primary  and  secondary  schools,  girls  are  carry- 
ing home  the  leaven  which  is  to  make  Egypt 
veritably  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth. 

These  changes  in  the  new  day  of  education  and 
mental  training  are  not  without  their  effect  upon 
character.  The  Government  schools  are  setting 
apart  definite  hours  for  the  teaching  of  the  sacred 
books  of  Islam,  while  in  the  missionary  schools, 
which  are  being  largely  attended  by  the  young 
women  of  both  Coptic  and  Moslem  homes,  par- 
ticular attention  is  given  each  day  to  moral  and 
religious  instruction. 

The  women  of  Egypt,  furthermore,  are  being 
lifted  upon  the  tide  of  the  new  economic  progress. 
Egyptian  husbands  and  sons,  for  the  first  time  in 
centuries,  are  beginning  to  prosper  materially,  and 
dare  to  proclaim  their  prosperity  by  the  signs  that 
are  attendant  upon  modern  civilization,  such  as 
more  comfortable  homes,  richer  clothing,  horses, 
carriages,  and  motors,  amongst  the  more  wealthy 
classes.  No  longer  do  the  fellaheen  bury  their 
small  savings  lest  some  ruthless  Pasha  or  unscru- 
pulous tribute-gatherer  should  include  them  in 


CHANGING  CONDITIONS  29 


his  rapacious  and  illegitimate  taxation  schemes. 
Indeed,  the  word  feloos  (money)  is  one  of  the 
sovereign  words  in  Egypt  to-day,  and  the  woman 
of  Egypt  is  giving  evidence  of  its  influence  quite 
as  much  as  are  the  men  of  her  family. 

Evidences  in  line  with  this  economic  advance 
are  seen  in  the  growing  desire  of  women  to  find  out 
how  their  sisters  live  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 
In  the  bazaars  of  Cairo,  which,  in  the  days  of 
Ismail  Pasha,  rarely  saw  a  woman  customer,  it  is 
not  uncommon  to  see  clusters  of  veiled  women, 
in  their  new  independence  of  choosing  for  them- 
selves their  clothing  and  ornaments,  bargaining, 
chattering,  admiring,  and  purchasing  jewellery  and 
finery,  which  formerly  was  purchased  for  them  by 
their  husbands.  In  the  large  cities,  like  Cairo 
and  Alexandria,  one  sees  occasionally  a  screened 
box  in  the  theatre  which  encloses  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  Beys  and  Pashas  escaped  from  the 
narrowing  confines  of  four  walls,  and  beginning 
to  share  consciously  as  well  as  unconsciously  in 
the  life  of  their  husbands'  world. 

Yet  the  modern  Egyptian  woman  does  not  want 
to  be  a  Westerner.  She  wishes  still  to  keep  her 
customs,  endeared  to  her  by  tradition,  habit,  and 
religion.    She  does  not  care  to  unveil  her  face  nor 


30  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


exchange  the  harborah  for  a  hat  ;  she  wishes  to  see 
the  world  and  learn  its  ways,  but  she  always  re- 
members that  she  is  an  Oriental  and  a  follower  of 
El  Islam,  and  for  many  years  yet  this  world  must 
come  to  her  ;  she  will  not  go  to  the  world.  It  will 
rather  be  brought  to  her  by  the  chatter  of  her 
daughter  as  she  comes  from  the  new  schools,  and  by 
her  husband  and  sons  who  will  unwittingly  give  her 
glimpses  into  the  life  that  has  been  shut  away  from 
her,  as  she  thinks  in  kindness,  to  guard  her  from 
the  care  and  worries  that  wait  outside  her  doorway. 

In  observing  the  position  of  women  in  the  East 
as  girl,  wife,  and  mother,  we  see  much  that  is  un- 
pleasant in  contrast  with  the  corresponding  position 
of  women  in  our  own  portion  of  the  world.  But  the 
Egyptian  woman  is  not  unhappy,  nor  does  she  con- 
sider herself  a  prisoner. 

The  lark  beats  out  its  life  against  the  bars,  while 
the  canary  is  happy  in  its  cage,  because  the  cage  is 
home. 


CHAPTER  II 


COSMOPOLITAN  CAIRO 

I VISITED  Egypt  to  study  and  to  try  to  learn 
something  of  the  life  of  the  Egyptian  woman. 
I  did  not  expect  to  fully  understand  her,  but 
I  wanted  to  know  as  much  as. is  possible  for  a  woman 
of  that  hurrying,  bustling,  new  country,  America, 
to  know  of  the  slow,  lethargic  woman  of  the  Orient. 
I  realized  that  the  foundation  of  our  knowledge  of 
a  people  must  be  an  understanding  of  their  country, 
for  social  structure  depends  primarily  upon  labour, 
and  labour  is  determined  by  place.  I  knew  that 
I  must  see  the  country,  the  people  at  work  and  at 
play,  and  the  outside  conditions  governing  the 
lives  of  these  shut-in  women,  these  vast  numbers  of 
unseen  people  who  really  sway  the  minds  and 
motives  of  the  Egyptian  men. 

Even  the  word  "  Egypt  "  brings  a  confused  picture 
to  the  mind  of  the  person  from  the  West.  The 
imagination  has  been  imbued  with  the  surpassing 

31 


32 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


interest  of  the  country  which  has  existed  for  him  in 
images  of  the  Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx ;  in  stories 
of  the  Pharaohs  and  the  toil  of  millions  of  slaves,  who 
spent  their  lives  in  building  for  the  dead  ;  in  the  loves 
of  Cleopatra,  and  the  old,  old  Temples  where,  in 
strange  picture  words,  are  inscribed  the  stories  of 
the  people  who  lived  so  many  thousands  of  years 
ago. 

I  expected  much  of  Egypt,  and  at  first  I  was 
disappointed  at  its  modernity.  I  half  hoped  to  be 
immediately  transported  to  the  land  of  the  Arabian 
Nights,  to  walk  through  streets  like  those  which 
resounded  to  the  footsteps  of  Saladin,  to  see  bazaars 
with  Oriental  hangings,  to  surprise  sombre,  dark  eyes 
of  the  East  peering  at  me  from  enclosing  moush- 
rabeah.  Instead  I  saw  the  bustling  town  of  Port 
Said,  which  is  dirty  and  tawdry  beyond  description, 
I  consoled  myself  with  the  thought  that  Cairo 
would  be  the  city  of  my  dreams,  that  it  would 
realize  for  me  all  the  longings  for  the  dreamy,  in- 
dolent Orient  which  I  had  been  cherishing  for  many 
years.  I  found  that  it  too  was  modern,  and  that  it 
must  be  studied  step  by  step. 

One  does  not  pass  at  once  to  the  Cairo  of  the 
Egyptians,  but  one  lingers  on  the  hotel  terraces 
and  studies  the  cosmopolitan  life  that  is  surging 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  33 


around  him  in  this  meeting  place  of  the  East  and 
the  West. 

During  the  season,  that  is  from  November  until 
March,  there  is  always  a  well-dressed  crowd  sitting 
around  the  little  tables  on  the  big  verandahs  of  the 
hotels.  One  sees  the  French  woman  with  her 
exaggerated  styles,  the  American,  looking  as  if  she 
had  just  come  from  her  Fifth  Avenue  milliner,  the 
heavy  but  practical  German  frau  with  her  heavier 
husband  and  uninteresting  daughters,  and  finally 
the  English  woman  with  her  blase  air  and  feather 
boa,  both  indispensable  adjuncts  of  the  up-to-date 
English  woman  traveller. 

The  Cook's  tours  pass  by,  sun-burned,  tired  people 
who  have  seen  so  many  mummies  and  tried  so  hard 
to  understand  and  remember  the  names  of  the 
rulers  of  the  different  dynasties,  that  they  have  a 
dazed,  baffled  look  in  their  weary  eyes.  Yet  when 
they  return  to  Lincolnshire  or  Kansas  they  will 
take  back  with  them  the  memories  of  the  wonder- 
ful country  of  sunshine,  and  life  will  never  be  quite 
the  same  little,  common  round  again.  Their  minds 
will  have  become  broadened  and  enriched  with 
the  knowledge  of  these  foreign  lands,  and  they  will 
have  learned  that  there  are  other  countries  quite  as 
interesting  as  England  or  America. 


34  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


After  watching  these  polyglot  people  on  the 
terraces,  the  street  calls  for  one's  attention.  The 
walks  are  filled  with  Egyptians  selling  every  imagin- 
able thing  to  the  foolish  over-the-seas  people,  who 
always  seem  to  have  an  unlimited  supply  of  money 
to  squander  upon  things  that  certainly  cannot  be 
called  the  necessities  of  life.  You  hear  a  voice  say 
softly,  "  Buy  post  card,  missie,  pretty  post  card. 
Twenty-four,  only  twenty -four  piastres,  very  pretty," 
and  you  look  down  into  a  pair  of  big  brown  eyes.  Do 
not  let  him  tempt  you,  for  he  belongs  to  a  numerous 
family — men  with  shawls  spangled  with  silver  or 
gold  which  they  throw  over  their  shoulders  and 
allow  to  hang  down  to  the  walk,  in  order  that  you 
may  admire  their  glistening  beauties  ;  men  with 
innumerable  strings  of  beads  around  their  necks, 
the  gay  colours  and  arrangements  of  which  tempt 
you.  You  succumb,  and  then  pass  the  rest  of  the 
afternoon  wondering  to  whom  at  home  you  will  dare 
give  these  things,  as,  taken  from  the  black  man's 
neck,  they  seem  out  of  place  and  rather  tawdry. 

There  are  bead  pocket-books  from  the  Soudan, 
ostrich-feathers,  scarabs  "  Three  thousand  years 
old,  true,  three  thousand  years  old,"  and  you  know, 
and  the  vendor  is  afraid  that  you  know,  that  they 
were   made  last   week  in  a   little    village  out 


35 


CAIRO  STREET  MERCHANTS  37 


beyond  the  Pyramids.  But  when  you  laugh,  he 
laughs  with  you  and  says,  "  Malaish,  sell  you  three 
for  a  shilling  ?  "  and  you  shake  your  head ;  and  he 
sells  them  to  the  lady  from  Chicago  who  "  dotes 
on  scarabs,"  and  is  not  worried  whether  they  are 
ancient  or  young  so  long  as  they  are  green  and  look 
Eastern. 

I  doubt  if  she  has  ever  heard  of  the  symbolism 
attached  to  this  little  green  toy  which  she  holds  in 
her  hand — how  the  beetle  lays  its  egg  in  the  sand 
by  the  river's  edge,  encloses  it  in  a  ball  of  clay  and 
rolls  it  to  a  safe  place  on  the  edge  of  the  desert, 
and  then  dies,  living  again  in  the  new  life  that 
comes  from  the  sun-warmed  egg.  To  the  Egyptian, 
because  of  its  untiring  energy,  the  beetle  with  its 
strength,  and  its  death  after  duty  accomplished, 
became  the  emblem  of  the  creative  and  preserving 
power,  and  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and, 
perhaps,  of  resurrection  after  death.  Through  the 
veneration  of  Old  Egypt  this  little  black  beetle  has 
become  known  throughout  the  world.  He  became 
a  hieroglyphic  and  stood  for  a  word  meaning  both 
"to  be  "  and  "  to  transform,"  and  his  portrait 
is  seen  on  temple  walls,  engraved  on  gems  found 
in  the  tombs  of  kings,  moulded  on  pottery,  worn 
as  jewels,  and  embalmed  with  the  dead. 


38  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


On  this  crowded  walk  there  is  always  the  irre- 
pressible and  necessary  fly-switch  boy.  Every  one 
buys  a  fly-switch  the  same  day  he  buys  his  sun- 
helmet,  and  if  it  can  be  manipulated  without  putting 
out  the  eyes  it  is  a  comfort  in  this  land  where  the 
flies  are  a  veritable  pest.  Flies  anywhere  are  a 
nuisance,  but  in  most  civilized  countries  they  will 
go  away  when  spoken  to,  or  brushed  gently  from 
the  visage.  Not  so  the  Egyptian  fly,  force  must 
be  used  ;  he  must  be  scraped  off,  then,  if  not  dis- 
couraged, he  immediately  comes  back  again.  If 
you  are  poor,  or  have  just  come  back  from  the 
Nile  trip,  when  you  are  sure  to  feel  most  crushing 
poverty,  you  buy  a  switch  made  from  the  shredded 
palm-leaf ;  but  if  you  are  feeling  especially  opulent, 
you  invest  in  one  of  white  horse-hair  with  an  ela- 
borately carved  ivory  handle.  One  becomes  so 
accustomed  to  seeing  these  in  the  tourists'  hands  that 
he  is  not  surprised  when  in  the  tomb  of  some  king 
the  guide  says  in  his  dogmatic,  professorial  tone, 
M  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  see  before  you  the 
picture  of  Rameses  the  Great.  You  will  note  that 
he  has  on  his  head  the  double  crown  of  Egypt,  in 
his  right  hand  the  key  of  life,  and  in  his  left  hand 
a  fly-switch." 

Within  a  few  moments'  walk  from  the  hotel  are 


LIFE  IN  THE  STREETS 


39 


the  purely  native  streets  of  Cairo,  which  are  mere 
lanes  lined  with  little  narrow  cupboard-like  shops 
where  the  merchants  sit  cross-legged  in  front  of 
their  wares  and  watch  with  stolid  gaze  the  crowds 
as  they  pass.  These  streets  are  filled  with  every 
sort  of  traffic.  The  people  walk  in  the  middle  of 
the  road,  as  there  are  no  side  walks,  dodging  the 
swiftly  moving  carriages  or  motors,  whose  drivers, 
like  the  chauffeurs  of  Paris,  seem  to  feel  that  they 
are  entitled  to  the  right  of  way  and  that  the  foot- 
passenger  is  an  interloper. 

If  the  carriage  does  not  run  one  down  he  may 
be  gently  pushed  aside  by  a  little  grey  donkey, 
with  his  gaily  coloured  saddle  and  string  of  blue 
beads  around  his  neck.  On  this  diminutive  animal's 
back  sits  the  donkey -boy,  who  begs  you  to  see  the 
sights  from  his  tiny  back  instead  of  walking,  which 
latter  form  of  exercise  is  never  understood  by  the 
Easterner,  who  cannot  understand  how  one  who 
has  the  price  of  any  kind  of  a  ride  would  prefer  to 
walk.  Often  the  donkeys  trotting  down  the  streets 
are  horribly  overloaded  with  great  bags  of  mer- 
chandise that  leave  only  a  pair  of  despondent  ears 
and  a  dejected  tail  to  tell  that  it  is  not  a  moving 
mass  of  bersein,  or  the  entire  belongings  of  some 
household  on  the  march. 
3 


40  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


Often  we  hear  the  shrill  cry  of  the  donkey-boy 
and  move  aside  to  allow  the  donkey  to  amble  by 
with  his  comfortable  little  jog  trot,  and  we  peer  at 
the  woman,  completely  swathed  in  a  winding-sheet 
of  black,  who  rides  astride  and  holds  her  child  in 
front  of  her.  This  little  beast  of  burden  is  also  used 
to  draw  a  most  picturesque  two-wheeled  cart  with 
a  flat  top  on  which  several  women  sit  cross-legged, 
nothing  but  their  eyes  showing  above  their  ugly 
wooden  nose-piece  that  holds  the  veil  in  place. 
These  women  are  going  to  a  wedding  or  to  visit 
some  friend,  or  to  the  cemetery  to  mourn  for  a  lost 
one,  and  the  cart  is  cheaper  than  a  donkey  apiece 
and  also  offers  the  advantage  of  gossip  en  route. 

Donkeys  are  omnipresent  in  Egypt,  and  with 
each  little  animal  is  a  boy  who  runs  behind  him 
and  gives  queer  wails  that  the  donkey  seems  to 
understand,  and  often  beats  him.  There  is  a 
story  told  that  once  upon  a  time  a  donkey  died, 
and  because  of  his  patient  life  he  was  taken  to  the 
donkey  heaven.  He  went  up  the  long  staircase 
and  looked  into  the  doorway  opened  for  him  by 
the  saint  who  had  that  particular  heaven  in  charge. 
He  saw  great  stacks  of  hay  and  piles  of  grain  lying 
in  the  sunshine,  and  his  delight  knew  no  bounds. 
He  stepped  one  foot  inside  and  cocked  forward  one 


i 


41 


DONKEYS  AND  CAMELS  48 


long  ear,  and  was  just  ready  to  place  the  other 
eager  foot  across  the  threshold,  when  he  heard  a 
familiar  sound.  He  stopped  ;  his  other  ear  went 
forward ;  he  listened  intently,  then  he  stepped 
backward  and  looked  at  the  door-keeper  inquiringly. 
"Do  I  hear  aright  ?  "  said  he.  "  Are  there  small 
boys  here  ?  "  "  There  are,"  said  the  saint  im- 
patiently. "  Come  in,  you  are  causing  a  draught." 
The  donkey  gave  one  last  long  look  at  the  hay 
and  the  fine  yellow  grain,  then  stepped  slowly 
backward,  his  ears  laid  down  dejectedly.  He 
looked  down  the  long  stairway  leading  to  the 
nether  regions,  and  said  sadly  to  the  door-keeper, 
"  If  you'll  excuse  me,  I'll  go  below.  I'll  risk  the 
ills  I  know  not  of  !  " 

Once  in  a  while  a  dignified  camel  pushes  his  way 
through  the  crowd,  and  for  him  every  one  must 
make  way,  as  he  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and 
he  will  walk  over  you  or  bite  you,  or  both,  if  given 
an  opportunity. 

The  mixture  of  people  fascinates  the  person  from 
a  country  where  every  one  dresses  and  looks  alike. 
Here  are  Greeks  and  Persians,  each  with  his 
peculiar  dress ;  dark,  swarthy  Bedouins  in  flowing 
garments  and  turbans  bound  with  ropes  of  twisted 
camel's  hair ;  black  Abyssinians,  men  from  Kur- 


44  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


distan,  dervishes  with  long  brown  cloaks,  priests 
from  the  Coptic  Church,  men  from  the  desert 
with  tanned  faces  and  swinging  stride,  dragomen 
with  their  gorgeous  costumes  and  impertinent  faces 
guiding  the  sensation-seeker  from  the  West,  all 
one  heterogeneous  mixture,  composing  the  charm 
of  Cairo.  There  is  the  foreignized  Egyptian  in 
ordinary  coat  and  trousers,  but  with  the  red  fez 
in  place  of  a  hat.  He  may  be  walking  with  an 
Egyptian  of  the  old  school  who  is  dressed  in  a 
long,  black  broadcloth  cloak  nearly  touching  the 
ground  in  the  back,  and  open  in  front  to  show  the 
under-dress  of  rich  tan-coloured  silk.  He  wears 
a  white  cloth  wrapped  around  his  fez,  giving  it  a 
turban  effect. 

This  turban  is  very  much  respected,  and  in  rich 
families  there  is  a  special  chair  on  which  it  rests 
at  night.  The  chair  is  often  one  of  the  articles  of 
furniture  which  the  bride  brings  with  her  to  her 
new  home,  and  is  never  used  for  any  other  purpose 
than  holding  the  turban  of  her  lord.  For  some 
reason  all  the  people  of  the  East — India,  China,  or 
Egypt — show  great  respect  for  the  head-covering, 
and  there  can  be  no  more  deadly  insult  offered  an 
Oriental  than  to  touch  his  turban  with  disrespect. 
In  street  fights  the  main  object  seems  to  be  to 


A  WATER-CARRIER  :    ''SWEET  WATER  FOR  SALE." 
45 


WATER-CARRIERS 


47 


knock  off  the  covering  of  the  head,  which  is  the 
final  culmination  of  the  fight. 

These  old-time  gentlemen  of  Egypt  nearly  always 
wear  a  signet  ring  with  the  name,  or  initials,  and 
the  words  "  His  servant  "  stamped  upon  it,  signi- 
fying servant  or  worshipper  of  God,  or  other  words 
expressing  the  wearer's  trust  in  God.  It  is  used 
to  sign  letters  and  valuable  papers,  and  its  im- 
pression is  considered  more  valuable  than  writing 
the  name.  Therefore  the  giving  of  the  ring  to 
another  is  the  utmost  sign  of  confidence.  "  And 
Pharaoh  took  off  his  signet-ring  from  his  hand  and 
put  it  upon  Joseph's  hand,"  reads  the  Scripture. 

Everywhere  in  the  crowded  streets  of  Cairo  are 
water-carriers  with  huge  goat-skins  filled  with 
water,  shouting  their  cry  "  Sweet  water  to  drink, 
thanks  be  to  God  !  "  Sellers  of  sherbet  or  lemon- 
ade offer  their  drinks  from  large  brass  vessels 
carried  on  the  hip.  They  often  put  a  wreath  of 
flowers  about  the  spout  of  the  jar,  and  a  huge  piece 
of  ice  stands  upright  in  the  neck.  They  strike  two 
little  brass  cups  together  to  make  their  wares 
known  to  the  thirsty  public,  and  the  sound  can 
be  heard  at  all  times  of  night  or  day  from  every 
street  and  alley  of  the  crowded  city. 

There  are  women  with  baskets  of  oranges  on  their 


48  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


heads,  vegetable  sellers,  men  with  great  barrows 
of  cucumbers  which  the  Egyptian  eats  as  a  fruit, 
never  taking  the  trouble  to  peel  them,  saying  that 
the  best  part  of  the  fruit  is  in  the  coarse  outside 
covering  ;  boys  carrying  trays  of  bread  formed 
into  rings  and  covered  with  cardamom  seeds.  At 
the  street  corners  people  are  sitting  at  rest  crunch- 
ing sugar-cane  between  their  strong  white  teeth. 
These  beautiful  teeth,  glistening  in  the  dark  faces, 
instantly  attract  the  notice  of  the  foreigner,  and 
the  Egyptians  are  very  proud  of  them.  It  is  one 
of  the  things  about  which  the  Prophet  Mohammed 
was  most  particular,  and  he  laid  down  stringent 
laws  in  regard  to  their  care. 

Street  kitchens  are  a  common  sight,  a  great 
brass  tray  holding  food  and  a  tiny  charcoal-stove, 
carried  on  the  head  of  a  man.  If  you  care  to 
patronize  him,  he  will  stop,  set  down  his  load,  and 
cook  you  a  meal,  or  if  you  prefer  it,  he  will  cook 
the  food  you  have  purchased  elsewhere.  Then, 
if  you  are  a  true  native,  you  will  sit  cross-legged  in 
the  street  and  eat  your  dinner,  utterly  oblivious 
of  the  crowds  around  you. 

Along  a  certain  street  are  the  scribes  sitting  before 
their  desks,  or  squatting  on  the  ground,  with 
patrons  solemnly  dictating  their  letters  to  them. 


49 


PUBLIC  LETTER-WRITERS  51 


These  scribes  are  necessary,  because  it  is  only 
lately  that  education  has  been  thought  necessary 
for  the  masses.  At  the  last  census  it  was  found 
that  only  eighty-five  from  every  thousand  males 
could  read,  and  three  from  every  thousand  females. 
The  professional  scribe  carries  an  ink-horn  in  his 
belt,  as  in  the  times  spoken  of  by  Ezekiel :  "  and 
one  man  in  the  midst  of  them,  clothed  in  linen, 
with  a  writer's  inkhorn  by  his  side." 

Along  these  streets  the  houses  are  high  and 
narrow.  The  upper  stories  project,  and  from 
these  again  are  windows  covered  with  lattice-work 
in  brown  weather-stained  wood.  Long  rafters, 
from  which  hang  pieces  of  matting,  allow  strag- 
gling sunbeams  to  filter  down  upon  the  riot  of 
colour  seen  within  the  tiny  shops.  Each  trade 
has  its  quarter.  There  is  the  shoemakers'  bazaar, 
where  you  walk  down  alleys  lined  with  red  and 
yellow  slippers,  Persian  slippers,  slippers  from 
Tunis,  slippers  embroidered  in  gold,  in  pearls, 
slippers  for  street  wear  and  for  the  pretty  feet  of 
women  within  the  harems,  slippers  with  turned-up 
toes  that  look  as  if  they  had  just  stepped  from  one 
of  the  stories  of  the  Arabian  Nights.  There  are 
also  hard  wooden  slippers  that  are  worn  by 
women  in  their  baths,  and  which  were  used  for 


52  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


many  other  purposes,  if  tales  are  true — for  the 
beating  of  disobedient  slaves,  or,  as  history  tells 
us,  they  were  once  the  means  of  putting  to  death 
a  queen  who  had  offended  her  women  beyond 
bearing. 

The  brass  and  copper  shops  attract  the  eye 
with  their  displays  of  hammered  trays  and  stately 
ewers,  their  incense-burners  engraved  with  quota- 
tions from  the  Koran,  or  their  drinking-cups  which 
are  polished  until  their  sides  shine  like  soft  golden- 
coloured  satin.  In  the  saddle  bazaar  one  may 
stop  and  watch  the  men  working  at  the  embroidered 
saddles,  or  decorating  the  bridles  with  the  blue 
beads  which  seem  to  be  the  especial  dress  of  the 
patient  donkey.  In  the  gold-  and  silver-smiths' 
bazaar  one  sees  in  cases  the  elaborately  wrought 
gold  necklaces  and  pendants  that  are  worn  by  the 
Egyptian  women,  and  often  sitting  on  the  seat  in 
front  of  the  open  shop  are  black-shawled  women 
handling  with  covetous  fingers  the  things  that 
appeal  to  women  from  all  over  the  world.  The 
shops  in  wThich  are  sold  the  precious  stones  make 
little  display,  but  if  you  step  inside,  the  proprietor 
will  pour  before  you  great  handfuls  of  turquoises, 
sapphires,  rubies,  and  curious  stones  that  seem  to 
belong  to  this  land  of  the  mysterious, 


53 


THE  BAZAARS 


55 


Nearly  all  of  these  shops  are  simply  recesses 
in  which  the  goods  are  stored  on  shelves,  within 
easy  reach  of  the  owner  sitting  cross-legged  on  the 
floor,  the  purchaser  taking  a  seat  beside  him  while 
bargaining  for  the  goods.  This  is  a  work  of  time 
and  patience.  If  you  look  as  if  you  are  going  to 
buy,  the  proprietor  will  serve  you  with  tiny  cups 
of  Turkish  coffee.  It  seems  most  hospitable  of 
him,  but  be  sure,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  purchase, 
you  will  pay  for  the  coffee  many  times  over.  These 
Cairo  shop-keepers  are  not  in  business  for  the  sake 
of  their  health,  and  their  avarice  is  proverbial, 
especially  where  the  unbeliever  is  concerned. 

There  are  many  charms  of  Cairo  besides  the 
bazaars  and  winding  streets.  It  is  said  that  there 
are  nearly  three  hundred  mosques  besides  innu- 
merable shrines.  A  few  of  the  mosques  are  beauti- 
ful and  impress  one  with  their  dignity  and  calm. 
There  is  nothing  tawdry  in  even  the  poorest  mosque, 
and  the  worshippers  bowing,  rising,  and  reverently 
touching  their  heads  to  the  floor,  make  one  want 
to  learn  more  of  this  wonderful  religion  and  the 
Prophet  who  has  still  such  a  hold  upon  the  millions 
of  people  in  this  Eastern  land. 

We  were  fortunate  in  our  day  for  our  first  sight 
of  a  mosque,  as  it  happened  to  be  the  four  hundredth 


56  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


anniversary  of  one  of  the  famous  mosques.  All  the 
streets  leading  to  it  were  hung  with  red  flags,  the 
star  and  crescent  embroidered  on  them  in  white, 
and  in  front  of  the  building,  which  extended  for 
a  square,  a  canopy  of  Egyptian  embroidery  in 
soft  colours  of  red  and  black  and  yellow  covered 
the  whole  width  of  the  narrow  street.  It  softened 
the  crude  effects  of  red  flags  and  great  glass  chan- 
deliers suspended  from  cross-beams  until  in  the 
dim  light  it  looked  like  a  miniature  fairyland. 

The  building  was  crowded  with  worshippers  and 
the  doorways  filled  with  men  dropping  their  shoes 
at  the  entrance  and  stepping  over  the  sill  in  the 
prescribed  way.  the  right  foot  foremost,  then 
turning  and  taking  up  their  shoes,  holding  them 
soles  together.  They  were  placed  in  front  of  the 
owner  while  at  prayers,  in  order,  as  some  scoffer 
suggested,  that  he  might  keep  his  eye  on  them  and 
see  that  they  were  not  taken  by  the  devotee  who 
finished  his  prayers  before  him.  One  can  readily 
see  why,  outside  of  respect  for  one's  temple,  shoes 
are  not  worn  inside  a  mosque.  The  worshippers 
sit  upon  the  floor,  and  it  would  soon  become 
soiled  if  allowed  to  be  trodden  upon  with  shoes 
that  had  been  walking  through  the  dirty  streets 
of  the  city. 


THE  "CALL  TO  PRAYER"  57 


This  was  the  first  time  that  we  had  seen  the 
followers  of  Mohammed  at  prayer,  and  we  were 
deeply  impressed  with  their  reverence.  Some  were 
prostrate,  their  foreheads  touching  the  mat  in 
front  of  them,  some  were  kneeling,  others  standing 
with  clasped  hands.  They  did  not  even  notice 
us  as  we  peered  at  them  from  the  open  doorway, 
and  we  waited  to  hear  the  khateeb  give  his  evening 
sermon,  standing  on  the  steps  of  the  pulpit,  a 
wooden  sword  in  his  hand.  This  sword  is  held  to 
commemorate  the  acquisition  of  Egypt  by  the 
sword,  and  is  never  used  except  in  a  country  or 
town  that  has  been  acquired  by  the  Moslems  from 
unbelievers. 

The  call  to  prayer  is  heard  from  the  minarets 
five  times  a  day,  but  the  modern  man  of  aff airs  in 
Egypt  generally  responds  to  it  at  the  most  three 
times,  as  it  takes  time  to  perform  the  ablutions, 
and  the  prayers  themselves  are  long.  In  the  court- 
yards of  the  mosques  are  fountains  which  now  are 
of  running  water  and  sanitary.  In  the  olden  time 
there  was  much  to  be  desired  in  the  question  of 
cleanliness,  as  the  tanks  were  not  changed  as  often 
as  is  considered  necessary  to  comply  with  the 
present  ideas  of  sanitation.  With  especial  words 
at  every  stage  of  progress  the  pious  Moslem  must 


58  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


wash  his  hands  three  times  "  in  the  name  of  God, 
the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful,"  three  times  rinse 
his  mouth,  three  times  his  nostrils,  his  ears,  his  face, 
his  head,  and  his  neck  ;  then  his  right  hand  and 
arm,  and  then  his  left,  his  right  foot  and  his  left. 
If  the  prayer  is  to  be  said  in  the  desert  where 
there  is  no  wTater,  Mohammed  allowed  sand  to  be 
used. 

The  prayer  itself  requires  closest  adherence  to 
the  prescribed  laws  in  the  Koran.  The  feet  must 
be  properly  placed ;  the  open  hands  must  be 
raised  to  either  side  of  the  face,  the  thumbs  touch- 
ing the  lobes  of  the  ears  ;  the  bowing  and  kneeling 
and  prostrating  must  be  in  accordance  with  the 
words  of  the  prayer.  A  mistake  in  the  ritual,  and 
the  prayer  must  be  commenced  over  again.  That 
is  one  reason  why  the  Mohammedan  seems  so  earnest 
in  his  prayers  and  pays  no  attention  to  any  one 
visiting  the  mosque,  or  any  distraction  near  him. 
He  must  concentrate  upon  his  prayers,  in  word  and 
act  follow  the  prescribed  ritual,  or  else  he  believes 
them  inffectual.  I  have  seen  a  man  praying  on 
a  street  corner,  utterly  oblivious  of  the  crowds 
passing  him,  and  have  also  seen  a  shop-keeper 
behind  his  counter  bowing,  kneeling,  and  going 
through  all  the  forms  necessary,  while  his  patrons 


CAIRO'S  MOSQUES  59 


waited  patiently  for  him  to  finish  his  petitions 
before  making  known  their  wants. 

In  each  mosque  is  a  sort  of  alcove  or  mihrab,  as 
it  is  called,  towards  which  the  believer  faces  when 
at  prayer.  This  is  to  direct  the  prayers  towards 
Mecca,  and  whether  in  the  desert,  in  the  street,  or 
kneeling  beside  the  waiting  camel  in  the  fields,  it 
is  always  in  this  direction  that  the  praying  Moslem 
looks  when  calling  upon  his  God.  In  the  early 
days  of  Mohammed  all  of  his  followers  prayed  to- 
wards Jerusalem,  but  because  of  his  hatred  of  the 
Jews,  it  is  said  in  the  early  days  of  his  preaching 
he  changed  the  direction  of  his  devotion  and  com- 
manded his  followers  to  pray  toward  the  Kaabah 
at  Mecca. 

Outside  the  mosque  was  a  most  beautiful  foun- 
tain enclosed  in  a  screen  of  exquisitely  carved  wood, 
and  in  the  room  above  it  a  school  where  the  Koran 
was  taught. 

The  three  things  seem  to  be  associated  in  the 
Moslem  mind,  education,  water,  and  religion,  as 
nearly  all  mosques  have  a  school  in  connection  with 
them,  and  a  place  where  the  thirsty  may  drink. 

When  we  finally  left  the  mosque  it  was  dark,  and 
the  cafes  were  full  of  the  men  having  their  evening 
coffee.    They  were  sitting  around  the  little  tables 


60  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


which  were  ranged  along  the  sides  of  the  streets, 
smoking  great  water  pipes  and  gossiping  of  busi- 
ness and  politics  and  the  many  things  that  interest 
men  from  any  part  of  the  world.  There  were  no 
women  to  be  seen,  it  seemed  a  man's  world.  In 
the  restaurants  the  waiters  were  busy  dipping 
cooked  beans  and  lentils  from  great  copper  jars  which 
sat  on  charcoal  fires.  Over  the  beans  a  few  chopped 
onions  were  sprinkled,  oil  poured,  a  dash  of  salt, 
and  then  either  given  to  the  customers  sitting 
around  the  rough  tables  or  handed  to  the  servant  or 
child  who  wished  to  carry  them  home  for  the  even- 
ing meal.  Other  restaurants  made  a  speciality  of 
broiled  meats  on  spits  that  smelled  most  appetizing 
as  they  sizzled  over  the  glowing  charcoal.  All 
kinds  of  sweets  were  laid  upon  the  counters  of  the 
Syrian  cake-shops,  and  in  one  place,  exposed  as  a 
particular  delicacy,  were  little  bowls  of  soured  thick 
milk,  with  crushed  almond-nuts  sprinkled  over  the 
top. 

The  prevailing  odour  of  the  food  of  the  common 
people  is  onions.  I  heard  the  onion  crop  was  the 
best  for  many  seasons,  that  there  were  two  million 
sacks  grown,  and  I  am  sure  it  was  not  one  onion  too 
many.  There  will  be  a  shortage  before  the  time  of 
onions  comes  again.    The  food  of  the  poor  man  is 


OUT-OF-DOOR  RESTAURANTS  63 


bread,  which  is  always  in  the  form  of  a  thick  round 
cake.  It  is  most  deceptive  as  it  is  hollow,  and  it  is 
within  the  hollow  that  the  Egyptian  peasant  or 
workman  slices  his  onion,  and  then  he  sits  upon  his 
heels  as  only  an  Easterner  can,  and,  unmindful  of 
the  people  around  him,  has  his  feast.  It  must  be 
rather  a  dry  and  unexciting  diet,  and  without  the 
onions  would  be  tasteless.  It  reminds  one  of  the 
peasants  of  Italy,  who  rub  a  piece  of  garlic  over 
their  bread,  spread  a  little  oil  upon  it,  and  call  it 
dinner. 

Bread  is  the  staff  of  life  to  the  Egyptians  and  is 
much  respected.  Not  the  least  bit  of  it  must  be 
wasted,  as  they  have  practically  the  same  saying 
in  regard  to  bread  that  the  Chinese  have  in  regard 
to  rice — "  He  who  wastes  rice,  eats  sorrow."  A 
man  who  has  lived  long  in  Cairo  said  he  had  seen 
an  Egyptian  take  up  a  small  piece  of  bread  which 
had  by  accident  fallen  into  the  street  and  place  it 
near  the  kerb,  so  that  dogs  might  eat  it  rather  than 
allow  it  to  be  trodden  underfoot. 

There  are  many  restaurants  in  Cairo  where  the 
tables  are  out  of  doors,  often  in  some  small  street 
connecting  two  main  thoroughfares.  These  re- 
staurants are  generally  owned  by  Greeks,  and  if 
the  food  is  not  so  good  as  in  the  hotels  and  the  big 


64  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


restaurants  on  the  Kaiser  en  Nil,  the  amusement 
offered  is  far  beyond  anything  these  big  Euro- 
peanized  hostelries  can  give  to  the  jaded  globe- 
trotter looking  for  "local  colour."  One  need  not 
go  to  a  theatre,  nor  need  one  go  to  a  shop  to  buy 
anything  he  might  wish  to  wear,  to  eat,  to  use  in 
the  making  of  his  toilet,  or  furnishings  for  his 
house.  The  shops  are  brought  to  the  tables.  We 
simply  sit  down  and  the  cosmopolitan  world  of 
the  poorer  classes  passes  before  our  eyes. 

We  taste  our  soup  and  tell  the  lottery  man  that 
we  do  not  wish  to  invest,  shake  our  head  at  the 
Syrian  with  the  laces  and  the  shawls,  reach  for  the 
salt  and  tell  the  Indian  we  cannot  purchase  carved 
wood  fans  or  sandalwood  boxes,  and  will  take  his 
word  for  it  that  the  wood  is  from  Mysore  or 
Lebanon  and  do  not  care  to  smell  it.  The  live 
chickens  are  gently  removed  from  their  too  near 
proximity  to  the  fish,  and  we  insist  that  neither 
live  canary  birds,  parrots,  shrimps,  nor  gold-fish 
will  be  purchased.  The  post-card  boy  and  the 
man  with  the  collapsible  what-nots  is  told  to  hurry 
by,  and  we  only  laugh  at  the  man  who  looks  like 
a  patent  clothes-line  on  wash  Monday,  so  thor- 
oughly is  he  covered  with  a  nondescript  outfit 
of  underclothing.    We  do  not  care  for  kimonos, 


BACKSHEESH 


65 


toothbrushes,  bedroom  furniture,  nor  slippers.  The 
infants'  clothing  does  not  tempt  us,  nor  do  the 
perfume,  coat  hangers,  or  live  geese.  But  our  re- 
fusal does  not  discourage  these  polite  salesmen. 
They  move  on,  to  make  way  for  another,  and 
then  return  again  and  again,  they  or  their  brothers, 
all  looking  so  much  alike  that  it  is  impossible  to 
distinguish  Mohammed  Ali  from  Youssuf. 

The  little  boy  tumbles  and  then  begs  with  pretty 
pleading  eyes  for  backsheesh,  and  we  feel  hard- 
hearted that  we  do  not  give  it  to  him.  We  have 
just  given  our  small  change  to  a  gentlemanly 
looking  person  who  came  with  a  flourish  and  put  his 
little  tin  in  front  of  us,  and  we  wondered  who  he 
was.  As  I  started  to  take  the  change  lying  so 
temptingly  before  me,  thinking  that  it  was  some 
kindly  Egyptian  manner  of  making  us  welcome  to 
his  city,  he  pointed  to  another  gentleman  leaning 
pensively  against  the  wall  with  a  violin  in  his  hand, 
and  we  realized  that  he  was  not  a  Spanish  don,  but 
just  one  of  the  Italian  street  musicians.  He  was 
so  knightly  and  so  gentlemanly  and  so  well  dressed 
that  we  could  not  give  him  the  half  piastre,  or  penny, 
that  we  had  intended  to  contribute,  and  gave  him 
the  whole  piastre,  and  his  bow  in  return  for  our 
royal  munificence  was  surely  enough  reward. 
4 


66 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


But  it  means  that  we  feel  we  have  been  extrava- 
gant, and  consequently  slight  the  juggler  who  has 
been  throwing  sticks  of  fire  into  the  air  and  catching 
them  dexterously  in  his  mouth,  and  nearly  refuse 
the  blind  man  who  has  been  making  doleful  sounds 
upon  a  flute.  The  old  man  with  long  white  beard 
who  looks  as  if  he  were  an  old  salt  from  Yarmouth 
receives  no  money,  and  we  hear  low  muttered 
curses  as  he  moves  away.  Then  coming  up  seem- 
ingly from  the  ground  is  a  tiny  girl  who  has  a  baby 
and  a  woman  attached  to  her,  and  she  begs  us 
"  For  the  love  of  Allah,  remember  the  poor."  We 
have  always  tried  to  live  up  to  the  Scriptural  in- 
junction about  giving  to  him  that  asketh,  but  that 
would  be  quite  impossible  here  in  this  Eastern 
country  where  we  are  asked  to  contribute  of  our 
plenty  to  him  who  hath  not,  about  once  every  ten 
seconds. 

The  endless  stream  passes  up  and  down  amongst 
the  tables,  stumbling  once  in  a  while  over  the  little 
girl  who  is  picking  up  cigarette  stumps,  or  running 
into  the  blind  beggars.  We  wonder  why  the  re- 
staurant people  allow  it.  Perhaps  the  street  be- 
longs to  the  blind  beggar  and  to  the  itinerant  sales- 
man as  much  as  it  does  to  the  rich  restaurant-keeper. 
It  impresses  one  as  a  most  democratic  proceeding, 


BEGGARS 


67 


and  after  seeing  it  one  can  never  again  believe  the 
stories  of  the  downtrodden,  oppressed  poor  of  the 
East. 

We  had  been  told  before  we  ever  saw  Cairo  that 
it  was  filled  with  Greeks  and  that  that  word  was  the 
final  term  for  dishonesty  in  business  ;  but  whatever 
may  be  said  about  that  nation  generally,  we  had 
one  example  of  honesty  that  considerably  im- 
pressed us,  on  our  first  visit  to  one  of  these  Greek 
restaurants,  when  the  money  question  was  a  diffi- 
cult one  to  solve  without  much  time  and  study, 
especially  in  regard  to  the  "  little  piastres  "  and  the 
"  big  piastres."  These  latter  are  worth  double 
the  former,  and  the  fact  that  the  new-comer  does 
not  realize  this,  makes  it  easy  for  the  wily  Arab  or 
Levantine  to  take  advantage  of  his  ignorance. 
When  we  asked  for  our  bill,  we  paid  it  in  big  piastres. 
The  waiter  said  nothing,  but  took  the  money. 

About  three  weeks  later  we  visited  the  same 
restaurant  and  learned  that  all  bills  were  made  out 
in  "  little  piastres  "  and  consequently  we  had  paid 
double  at  the  time  of  our  first  visit.  We  sent  for 
the  proprietor,  never  thinking  that  he  would  do 
anything,  but  just  out  of  curiosity  to  hear  what  he 
would  say.  He  asked  us  to  point  out  the  waiter, 
which  we  did.    He  called  him  to  our  table,  and  of 


68  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


course  it  was  denied.  We  laughed  and  said  that 
we  did  not  mind,  only  we  wished  to  let  him  know 
that  we  considered  it  foolish  for  him  to  allow  his 
waiters  to  do  such  things,  and  that  we,  being 
strangers,  did  not  expect  him  to  take  our  word 
against  that  of  the  waiter  whom  he  knew.  He, 
much  to  our  astonishment,  insisted  on  returning  us 
our  money,  and  discharged  the  waiter  on  the  spot. 
I  think  that  it  was  real  honesty  that  prompted  him 
to  do  this,  as  he  did  not  know  but  that  we  were 
simply  tourists  whom  he  would  never  see  again. 

When  one  has  seen  so  much  of  the  busy,  crowded 
streets  of  Cairo  that  its  sounds  jar  and  its  colours 
do  not  attract,  then  he  should  go  to  the  Pyramids. 
Do  not  go  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  place  is  flooded 
with  guides  and  donkey-boys,  and  the  men  who 
want  to  run  up  the  Great  Pyramid  and  down  again 
for  a  price.  You  will  feel  as  did  Marshall  P.  Wilder, 
the  American  humorist,  when  importuned  by  one 
of  these  men.  He  offered  him  five  dollars  if  he  would 
run  up  and  down  the  pyramid  twenty  times  in 
succession.  The  man  said,  "  But,  master,  that 
would  kill  me."  Marshall  said,  "  That  is  what  I 
am  paying  for." 

People  do  queer  things  here  at  the  Pyramids, 
things  they  would  never  do  at  home.    No  lady  in  a 


THE  PYRAMIDS 


71 


hobble  skirt  would  like  to  be  pulled  up  the  sides  of 
a  twenty-story  building,  with  two  athletic  men 
dragging  at  her  arms,  and  another  husky  one  push- 
ing her  from  the  back,  but  she  bravely  and  ener- 
getically does  something  just  as  ridiculous,  and  goes 
home  and  proudly  boasts  that  she  climbed  the 
Great  Pyramid. 

The  way  to  see  the  Pyramids  and  that  most 
wonderful  sight,  the  Sphinx,  is  to  go  to  the  Mena 
house  and  have  tea  sitting  on  the  verandah  with  the 
Pyramids  in  front  of  you.  You  watch  them  as 
they  stand  out  dark  and  strong  in  the  fading  light, 
and  you  listen  for  the  voice  of  the  woman  who 
haunts  the  Third  Pyramid  and  comes  to  the  door- 
way and  cries  for  the  loved  one  she  has  lost.  She 
comes  at  sunset  and  at  noon,  and  the  Arabs  say 
her  voice  can  be  heard  quite  distinctly  when  the 
wind  is  from  the  west. 

When  the  moon  has  risen  and  all  the  travellers 
have  either  gone  in  to  dinner  or  else  started  for  Cairo, 
you  stroll  up  the  winding  path  leading  to  the  Pyra- 
mids. Perhaps  you  will  see  them  as  we  did,  with 
no  one  around  except  an  old  guardian  dressed  in 
flowing  white  robes,  who,  as  we  were  standing  before 
the  monstrous  piles  of  stone  and  masonry,  knelt 
down,  his  face  to  Mecca,  and,  quite  oblivious  of  the 


72  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


infidels'  presence,  prayed  his  prayer  to  Allah.  We 
left  him  kneeling  there  in  the  moonlight  and  went 
farther  down  the  road  to  the  Sphinx.  Great 
scientists  tell  us  that  its  puzzle  has  been  solved, 
that  it  is  no  more  a  thing  of  mystery,  but  one  sees 
in  this  great  pile  of  stones  what  one  brings  to  it 
and  no  more.  It  may  be  to  him  simply  a  much 
marred  statue,  or  it  may  be  the  symbol  of  Egypt 
waiting.  At  any  rate  you  will  return  to  Cairo 
feeling  you  have  been  in  touch  with  something  big 
and  wonderful,  something  that  suggests  all  the 
mystery  and  fascination  of  the  East. 


CHAPTER  III 


LIFE  ALONG  THE  NILE 

THE  second  step  in  studying  the  life  of  Egypt 
is  to  go  up  the  Nile.  Egypt  is  a  country 
dominated  by  a  river,  and  that  river  is  the 
Nile.  One  cannot  think  of  Egypt  apart  from  the 
narrow,  sluggish  black  stream  of  water  that  winds 
so  leisurely  for  many  months.  When  the  rains  fall 
in  Abyssinia  and  fill  the  great  river,  it  overflows 
upon  the  land,  where  it  is  allowed  to  remain  for 
forty  days,  then,  receding,  leaves  its  wealth  of  rich 
mud  that  is  Egypt's  treasure.  It  transforms  the 
arid,  rainless  country  into  a  Garden  of  Eden,  and 
one  can  easily  see  why  the  Egyptians  revere  it  and 
have  many  legends  in  regard  to  its  origin.  By 
some  it  is  believed  that  it  rises  in  the  Mountains 
of  the  Moon  ;  others  that  it  is  formed  by  the  tears 
of  Isis  weeping  for  Osiris  ;  some  tell  the  story  of 
the  Great  Nile  god  who  came  forth  from  his  cavern, 
and  from  his  mouth  cast  forth  the  stream  of  water 
that  brings  its  blessing  to  all  of  his  people. 

73 


74  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


When  we  read  of  the  richness  of  Egypt  it  is  hard 
to  realize  what  a  small  country  it  really  is,  and  how 
absolutely  dependent  it  is  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Nile  for  its  very  life.  The  valley  is  only  about  ten 
miles  wide,  except  in  the  Delta,  where  it  is  200  miles 
from  Port  Said  to  Alexandria,  and  it  is  about  750 
miles  long.  One  can  sit  on  the  boat  and  see  the 
mountains  that  shut  in  the  valley  on  each  side, 
from  the  Desert  of  Sahara  on  the  west  and  from 
the  Arabian  Desert  on  the  east.  Without  the  Nile, 
Egypt  would  be  a  part  of  these  great  deserts. 

From  the  deck  of  the  Nile  steamer  I  looked  upon 
another  world.  The  people  seem  to  be  real  people, 
going  about  their  everyday  life  in  exactly  the  same 
way  that  they  have  done  for  six  thousand  years. 
They  do  not  seem  to  be  dressed  and  staged  for  the 
influx  of  foreigners  as  they  do  in  Cairo. 

We  stopped  at  many  of  the  villages,  which  are 
simply  a  collection  of  sand-coloured  walls  that 
enclose  the  low  palm-thatched  houses  of  unbaked 
bricks  cemented  together  with  mud.  They  look 
like  mere  hovels,  and  it  is  rare  that  a  more  pre- 
tentious house  of  two  stories  is  to  be  seen.  There 
are  no  windows  in  the  houses,  but  the  chambers  of 
the  better  ones  have  apertures  high  up  in  the  walls 
for  the  admission  of  light  and  air.    A  few  palm- 


PALM-THATCHED  HOUSES  77 


trees  in  the  courtyards  make  the  glare  less  terrifying, 
but  I  wondered  how  it  could  be  bearable  in  the 
summer  when  the  hot  winds  from  the  Sahara  sweep 
across,  with  no  protection  from  the  shifting  sands 
or  the  scorching  rays  of  a  tropical  sun. 

These  villages  look  pretty  from  a  distance  nestling 
in  the  midst  of  their  stately  palm-trees,  but  when 
they  are  entered,  the  illusion  quickly  fades  before 
the  reality.  Everything  is  the  colour  of  the  desert. 
Within  the  dust-covered  walls  of  the  houses  mothers 
sit,  clothed  in  black  or  blue  gowns  that  seem  to  have 
taken  on  the  sad  colour  of  their  surroundings. 
The  children  they  carry  in  their  arms  are  sickly 
looking,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  have  sore, 
fly-covered  eyes.  There  are  no  comforts  within 
the  bare  rooms,  the  only  furniture  a  few  benches, 
a  few  cooking-pots,  some  stones  in  a  corner  over 
which  a  fire  is  made,  or  perhaps  an  oven  in  which 
the  bread  is  baked.  In  the  mud-enclosed  yard 
outside  the  door  is  generally  an  old  man  lying  in 
the  shade  of  the  house,  where  the  donkey  or  per- 
haps the  camel  keeps  him  company.  The  dogs 
bark,  and  the  children  run  from  one,  which  is  better 
than  in  the  more  sophisticated  towns,  where  they 
run  after  one  and  cry  the  only  word  of  welcome  they 
know — "  Backsheesh." 


78  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


The  prominent  building  in  every  village  of  any 
size  is  the  mosque.  Passing  by  the  door  we  heard 
the  drone  of  many  voices  and  knew  that  there 
was  a  school  inside.  Removing  our  shoes,  we  tip- 
toed across  the  room  and  found  a  dozen  little  boys 
sitting  on  the  floor  around  their  master,  chanting 
sentences  from  the  Koran,  with  the  rhythmic 
swaying  of  their  bodies  forwards  and  backwards 
that  is  supposed  to  be  an  aid  to  youthful  memory. 
At  our  appearance  there  was  a  sudden  cessation  of 
all  sounds,  and  twelve  pairs  of  unwinking  black  eyes 
stared  at  us,  until  we  felt  uncomfortably  like  in- 
truders. 

The  master,  with  true  Eastern  politeness,  invited 
us  to  enter,  and  we  stayed  to  hear  the  parrot-like 
repetition  of  the  verses,  that  really  mean  nothing 
to  the  child  who  commits  them  to  memory.  Yet, 
in  the  olden  days,  the  committing  to  memory  of 
the  entire  Koran  was  often  the  only  education  an 
Egyptian  boy  received,  and  to  show  how  as- 
siduously he  studied  his  sacred  book,  statistics 
show  us  that  5,565  boys  could  repeat  the  entire 
Koran  by  heart,  4,076  knew  one-half  of  it,  9,145 
could  repeat  one-quarter  of  it,  and  110,844  could 
repeat  many  of  its  chapters  or  surahs.  When 
one  remembers  that  the  Koran  contains  about  as 


79 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  KORAN  81 


many  words  as  the  New  Testament,  one  realizes 
the  enormity  of  the  task. 

To  enter  El  Azhar,  the  great  Moslem  University 
in  Cairo,  it  is  necessary  to  repeat  by  heart  one- 
half  the  Koran,  and  then  the  student  must  give  up 
the  next  ten  or  twelve  years  of  his  life  to  the  study 
of  the  book  and  its  tradition  and  interpretations. 
Afterward  he  will  be  a  full-fledged  Sheikh  and 
return  to  his  native  village  as  an  interpreter  of  the 
sacred  law  or  a  teacher. 

To  hear  the  Koran  chanted  by  a  professional  is 
like  hearing  a  beautiful  piece  of  music.  It  is  not 
read  nor  droned,  but  each  word  has  its  special 
tone,  and  the  Arabic  lends  itself  specially  to  the 
minor  melody  of  the  East. 

These  old  schools  are  giving  way  to  the  Govern- 
ment schools  which  are  being  established  every- 
where throughout  the  country,  and  the  old  school- 
master is  being  compelled  to  seek  another  profession. 
It  is  hard  for  him,  because  often  he  is  a  man 
entirely  ignorant  of  everything  except  the  Koran, 
which  he  has  committed  to  memory.  There  is  a 
story  told  in  The  Thousand  and  One  Nights  which 
illustrates  the  ignorance  of  the  old  time  school- 
master who  belonged  to  the  Egypt  of  other  days, 
the  Egypt  of  the  corvee  and  the  forced  labour, 


82  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  Egypt  that  preferred  blinding  one  eye  of  the 
son  rather  than  having  him  drafted  into  the 
Army.  A  new  man  was  employed  as  the  village 
teacher,  and  he  could  neither  read  nor  write.  One 
day  a  poor  woman  brought  to  him  a  letter  to  read. 
It  was  from  her  son  who  was  on  a  pilgrimage,  and 
who  wished  to  tell  her  that  he  would  soon  be  home 
with  her.  The  schoolmaster  did  not  wish  his 
ignorance  known,  so  he  looked  gravely  at  the  letter 
and  said  nothing.  The  mother,  becoming  frightened, 
inferred  from  his  silence  that  it  contained  bad  news. 
Rather  than  ask  a  direct  question  regarding  an 
unhappy  event,  she  took  the  circuitous  way  of 
the  East  to  find  out  what  she  wished  to  know. 
"  Shall  I  shriek  ?  "  she  asked.  The  master  answered 
"  Yes."  "  Shall  I  tear  my  clothes  ?  "  Again  he 
answered  "  Yes."  The  woman  returned  home  and 
performed  the  ceremonies  for  the  dead.  Within 
a  few  days  her  son  returned.  She  went  to  the 
schoolmaster  and  said,  "  Why  did  you  cause  me 
so  much  sorrow  ?  My  son  is  not  dead.  He  has 
returned  to  me."  Nothing  abashed,  the  old 
man  replied,  "  How  could  I  know  that  your  son 
would  arrive  in  safety  from  his  long  journey  ? 
Many  things  might  have  happened  to  him. 
It  were  better  that  you  should  think  him  dead, 


83 


• 

PIGEON-HOUSES 


85 


than  be  led  to  expect  him  and  then  be  dis- 
appointed." 

As  we  came  from  the  mosque  we  stumbled 
against  a  man  who  smiled  at  us  and  followed  us, 
laughing  and  talking  half  to  himself  and  half  to 
any  one  who  might  listen.  He  was  evidently 
deranged,  or  else  had  not  been  granted  the  usual 
amount  of  intelligence.  The  people  of  Egypt  never 
ill-treat  the  mad  nor  the  simple-minded,  because 
the  Koran  says,  "  The  fool  is  one  whom  God  hath 
made  his  temple  for  a  while,  thereafter  withdrawing. 
None  shall  injure  the  temple." 

Another  public  building  that  attracted  our 
attention  was  the  village  incubator.  The  Egyptian 
hens  have  had  their  eggs  hatched  for  them  for  so 
many  centuries  that  they  have  lost  all  maternal 
inclinations,  so  the  housewife  takes  the  eggs  to  the 
man  in  charge  of  the  incubator,  who  guarantees 
her  a  certain  number  of  chickens  from  the  eggs 
received.  Near  this  utilitarian  industry  was  a 
pigeon-house  that  evidently  belonged  to  the  village. 
It  was  made  of  many  earthen  pots  of  an  oval 
form  with  a  wide  mouth  placed  outwards,  and  a 
small  hole  at  the  other  end.  Each  pair  of  pigeons 
occupy  a  separate  pot.  The  Egyptians  have  been 
famous   for  centuries  for    their  carrier-pigeons. 


§6  THE  WOMEN  6E  EGYPT 


Even  to-day  it  is  said  that  when  the  native  wishes 
to  send  news  that  might  embroil  him  with  the 
Government  if  discovered,  the  carrier-pigeon  is 
used.  At  the  rising  of  a  Mahdi  the  British  officials 
could  not  find  out  how  the  news  was  sent  from  one 
place  to  another  with  such  swiftness,  but  it  was 
finally  traced  to  the  use  of  the  carrier-pigeons. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  how  these  birds  were  used 
in  the  olden  time  to  save  the  nation.  A  ruler  of 
Egypt  had  a  wife  from  Damascus  who  became  tired 
of  the  desert  and  wished  to  return  to  her  home 
lands,  but  also  did  not  care  to  leave  her  lord  amidst 
the  many  temptations  which  might  influence  him 
to  forget  her  while  away.  She  spent  long  hours 
in  trying  to  devise  means  of  tempting  him  from 
his  luxurious  capital,  and  cause  him  to  desire  a 
visit  to  his  dominions  of  Syria.  Finally,  knowing 
his  weakness,  which  was  love  for  the  joys  of  the 
table,  she  began  to  tell  him  of  the  wonderful  cherries 
of  Damascus — they  had  no  equal  in  all  the  world  ; 
and  her  glowing  pictures  of  their  colour,  their 
exquisite  aroma,  the  delicacy  of  their  flavour,  so 
worked  upon  the  imagination  of  the  gourmet  that 
he  announced  to  the  Vizier  the  necessity  of  a  visit 
to  his  Eastern  possessions,  and  commanded  pre- 
parations for  a  state  tour  of  that  country. 


THE  CALlPH  AND  THE  CHERRIES  8t 


The  Vizier  was  alarmed,  because  he  knew  that 
when  the  ruler  left  his  capital,  the  revolt  which 
was  slumbering  would  break  into  flame.  He  tried 
to  find  out  the  reason  why  the  Caliph  wished  to 
leave  the  luxuries  of  which  he  was  so  fond,  and, 
by  the  help  of  his  wife  and  the  harem  gossips, 
learned  the  story  of  the  cherries.  Then  this  wily 
old  diplomat  pretended  to  prepare  for  the  journey, 
but  asked  for  time,  as  the  Caliph  must  travel  with 
great  state  and  ceremony,  and  would  need  hundreds 
of  people  in  his  train.  He  sent  word  secretly  that 
every  one  who  owned  a  carrier-pigeon  of  great 
swiftness  should  bring  it  to  the  palace  on  a  certain 
day.  He  had  the  fleetest  camels  waiting  with 
great  cages  on  their  backs,  to  which  the  pigeons  were 
transferred  as  soon  as  they  arrived.  The  camels 
left,  and  things  were  quiet. 

After  a  time  the  Vizier  began  to  spend  the  morn- 
ings on  his  house-top  looking  towards  the  east, 
and  one  morning  his  vigils  were  rewarded,  for  a 
cloud  seemed  covering  the  eastern  sky.  It  came 
nearer,  and  was  found  to  be  the  flight  of  weary 
home-coming  pigeons,  each  with  a  cherry  under 
its  wing.  The  servants  of  the  Vizier  were  hours 
heaping  the  bright  red  cherries  of  Damascus  upon 
golden  salvers  to  be  taken  to  the  Caliph,  and  soon 


88        the  Women  of  egypt 


it  was  announced  that  the  trip  to  Syria  was  aban- 
doned as  too  arduous  for  a  man  of  age  and  dignity, 
and  the  country  was  saved  from  rebellion. 

If  the  villages  are  disappointing,  the  cities  are 
more  so.  Nothing  is  uglier  or  more  depressing  than 
the  ordinary  city  along  the  Nile.  The  streets  are 
mere  lanes  of  dust,  and  the  houses  a  succession  of 
windowless  mud  walls,  with  here  and  there  a  white- 
washed house  of  the  better  class,  but  still  looking 
neglected  and  unkept,  as  if  its  owners  had  begun 
well,  but  had  become  tired  of  the  fight  against  the 
heat  and  the  sand,  and  had  at  last  decided  to  permit 
the  encroaching  desert  to  work  its  will,  and  reduce 
the  one-time  gaily  painted  walls  to  its  own  mono- 
tonous grey. 

The  streets  on  which  are  the  bazaars  are  roofed 
over  with  torn  matting,  and  are  merely  a  succession 
of  little  cupboard-like  shops  in  which  one  sees, 
instead  of  the  carpets  of  the  East,  and  the  brass 
and  carving  for  which  one  is  for  ever  searching, 
gaudy  cotton  goods  from  Manchester,  oil  lamps, 
tin  trunks,  bicycles,  Bass's  ale,  Cross  &  Blackwell's 
preserves,  clocks,  and  the  many  cheap  articles 
that  seem  to  have  such  a  fascination  for  the  Easterner, 
who  feels  that  he  is  truly  a  cosmopolitan  when  he 
fills  his  home  with  the  gaudy  products  of  the  West. 


A  VIRILE  RACE 


89 


The  crowds  elbow  one,  and  the  donkeys,  the 
camels,  the  chatter,  the  dust,  and  the  flies  all  make 
one  feel  that  an  Egyptian  town  is  inspected  best 
from  the  deck  of  a  boat  anchored  at  a  safe  distance 
from  the  bank,  where  one  can  observe  the  rather 
unprepossessing  population  without  coming  in  too 
close  proximity  with  them.  They  do  not  look 
healthy  or  strong,  yet  are  a  most  virile  race,  domi- 
nating every  race  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 
Subdued  again  and  again  by  alien  nations,  inter- 
mixed for  centuries  with  foreign  peoples,  they 
simply  fuse  these  outside  elements  into  their  own 
common  mould,  reverting  always  to  the  early  type 
and  remaining  Egyptians  to  the  last. 

Only  a  special  breed  of  man  can  survive  the 
burning  suns  and  can  get  a  living  from  the  rainless 
lands.  It  is  said  that  foreign  children  will  not 
survive  in  Egypt,  and  that  children  of  a  European 
father  and  an  Egyptian  mother  will  die  in  infancy 
unless  allowed  to  live  as  do  the  Egyptian  children. 
Egypt  is  the  same  as  India,  China,  and  Japan  in  one 
respect.  Descendants  of  mixed  marriages,  after 
the  third  generation,  show  no  touch  of  their  foreign 
blood,  but  become  truly  native  with  all  the  traits 
of  the  Easterner,  restored  in  their  original  purity. 
We  were  glad  to  pass  the  villages  and  see  the 
5 


90 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


fields  covered  with  green  at  this  time  of  the  year. 
There  is  barley  and  wheat,  fields  upon  fields  of 
onions,  beans  and  vegetables  unknown  to  the 
Western  eye,  and,  taking  the  place  of  hay,  a  sort 
of  clover  or  lucerne  that  has  a  small  red  blossom. 
Near  sundown  the  children  and  women  take  the 
camels  and  cows,  the  donkeys  and  the  sheep,  and 
tether  them  in  a  line  across  the  fields  of  clover 
that  each  may  eat  his  allotted  portion  for  the  day. 

One  sees  great  flocks  of  dark  brown  sheep  grazing, 
and  often  in  such  barren  places  that  one  wonders 
if  thousands  of  years  of  desert  life  have  accustomed 
Egyptian  sheep  to  sand  as  a  diet.  The  shepherd 
is  generally  an  old  man,  with  his  long  white  or 
brown  cloak  and  staff  in  hand,  looking  as  if  he 
had  just  stepped  from  the  hills  of  Judea. 

Along  the  Nile  about  every  hundred  yards  is 
the  shadoof,  a  machine  used  for  irrigation.  It  is  a 
bucket  suspended  to  a  weighted  pole  between  two 
posts.  A  man  stands  by  the  water  and  fills  the 
bucket,  which  is  lifted  by  the  weight  at  the  end 
of  the  pole,  and  emptied  by  the  man  standing  on 
the  bank.  It  is  a  laborious  process,  causing  the 
brown-bodied,  lightly  clad  man  to  stoop  and  rise, 
stoop  and  rise,  with  the  regularity  of  clockwork. 
The  shadoof  seems  as  old  as  the  Nile  itself.  We 


9i 


THE  SHADOOF  AND  THE  SAKKIA  93 


see  it  pictured  in  the  tombs  at  Thebes,  and  the 
men  now  working  them  along  the  banks  look  as  if 
they  had  wandered  down  from  the  pictured  walls. 

At  other  places  is  a  sakkia,  a  wheel  which  a  camel 
or  a  bullock  turns,  walking  in  continuous  circles, 
the  creaking  of  the  cumbrous  wheel  keeping  time 
to  the  song  of  the  sakkia,  which  is  often  chanted 
by  the  small  boy  sitting  on  his  throne  in  the  centre 
of  the  wheel,  touching  the  slow-moving  animal 
who  wishes  to  loiter  on  his  monotonous  way. 

Turn,  O  Sakkia,  turn  to  the  right,  and  turn  to  the  left ; 
The  heron  feeds  by  the  water-side — shall  I  starve  in  my  onion- 
field  ? 

Shall  the  Lord  of  the  world  withhold  His  tears  that  water  the 

land  ? 
Turn,  O  Sakkia. 

The  Nile  floweth  by  night  and  the  balasses  are  filled  at  dawn, 
The  maid  of  the  village  shall  bear  to  my  bed  the  dewy  grey 

goolah  at  dawn, 
Turn,  O  Sakkia. 

Along  the  Nile  one  sees  the  same  scenery  over 
and  over  again,  yet  it  never  seems  to  grow  mono- 
tonous :  the  level  bank  sloping  down  to  the  river, 
the  green  of  the  fields,  the  mud  villages  with  their 
encircling  palm  groves ;  the  water-wheel,  the 
shadoof,  the  peasant  ploughing  with  his  ox  yoked 
to  the  heavy  wooden  plough  in  the  same  manner 


94  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


as  did  his  forefathers ;  the  desert  with  its  hillocks 
and  valleys  and  its  background  of  blue-grey  moun- 
tains. Once  in  a  while  a  water-buffalo  is  seen 
covered  up  to  his  shoulders  in  the  water,  or  a 
woman  in  her  black  dress  and  trailing  shawl  comes 
with  a  huge  water- jar  laid  sidewise  upon  her  head, 
and  having  filled  it,  replaces  it  in  an  upright  position, 
walking  away  with  the  stately  grace  that  seems  to 
be  only  given  to  these  women  who  carry  burdens 
upon  their  heads. 

In  the  distance  a  camel  may  be  seen  with  a  man 
sitting  cross-legged  upon  his  back.  The  camel  is 
everywhere — in  fact  he  and  the  palm-tree  seem  to 
belong  to  Egypt.  He  is  loaded  down  with  sugar- 
cane, or  great  heaps  of  grass,  or  sitting  down  in  a 
field  waiting  patiently  while  bags  of  onions  are 
placed  on  his  pack-saddle.  When  regarded  closely 
the  camel  is  the  ugliest  animal  on  earth,  but  seen 
against  a  sky-line  with  a  palm-tree  in  the  back- 
ground, he  looks  as  if  he  had  just  stepped  out  of 
the  Book  of  Mystery. 

There  is  a  legend  that  once  upon  a  time  the 
camel  was  a  beautiful  Arabian  horse.  He  did  a 
great  favour  to  an  angel,  and  the  angel  wishing  to 
repay  him  said,  "  What  can  I  do  to  requite  you 
for  the  kindness  you  have  shown  me  ?    I  will 


THE  ANGEL  AND  THE  CAMEL  95 


grant  you  three  favours."  The  horse  thought  a 
moment  and  said,  "  I  have  often  wished  my  legs 
were  longer  so  that  I  might  use  them  to  more  ad- 
vantage ;  then  I  could  brush  the  flies  from  me,  or 
lie  down  with  more  ease,  or  sit  upon  the  sand." 
The  angel  said,  "  I  will  consider  it  ;  the  other 
wishes  ?  "  The  horse  answered,  "  When  I  am 
galloping  over  the  country  and  through  the  towns, 
it  is  lonely,  as  I  cannot  see  over  the  walls.  If 
my  neck  were  longer  it  would  amuse  me  to  watch 
the  people  at  work  or  at  play  in  their  gardens." 
The  angel  bowed.  "  And  thy  third  and  last  desire  ?  " 
The  horse  pondered  long  and  carefully,  then  said, 
"  My  back  is  often  galled  by  the  saddle.  If  you 
could  manage  to  provide  me  with  a  saddle  that 
would  not  gall  me,  I  would  be  content." 

The  angel  went  away  and  the  horse  fell  into  a 
deep  sleep.  When  he  awakened  he  found  that  his 
legs  seemed  especially  limber.  He  could  scratch 
his  nose  with  his  hind  foot  and  he  was  delighted. 
As  he  galloped  through  the  narrow  streets  he 
could  look  into  the  gardens,  and  he  passed  most 
of  his  time  leaning  his  head  on  people's  walls,  to 
see  what  they  did  in  what  had  been  for  him 
heretofore  forbidden  lands.  When  his  master 
came  to  saddle  him,  lo,  there  was  already  grown  a 


96  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


saddle  !  His  delight  knew  no  bounds,  and  he 
galloped  far  into  the  country.  On  passing  a  lake 
he  stopped  to  drink.  As  he  bent  over  the  clear 
waters  he  caught  sight  of  his  reflection.  He  could 
not  believe  his  eyes.  Was  this  the  beautiful  horse 
with  the  arching  neck,  the  flowing  tail,  the  graceful 
legs  ?  He  looked  and  looked,  and  then  for  the 
first  time  the  camel  knelt.  He  prayed  Allah  to 
return  to  him  his  beautiful  body,  his  glistening  coat ; 
but  the  angel  appeared  to  him  and  whispered  in 
his  ear,  "  Allah's  gifts  cannot  be  returned,"  and 
that  is  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  the  camel 
looks  mournful. 

As  one  moves  slowly  up  the  Nile  and  visits  the 
old,  old  Egypt,  the  Egypt  of  the  temples,  one  is 
bewildered  by  her  vastness,  her  antiquity.  These 
temples  can  never  be  forgotten,  although  it  is  im- 
possible to  describe  the  sensations  they  arouse.  As 
one  stands  upon  the  towers  of  Denderah,  beautiful 
in  the  memory  of  the  Egyptian  Goddess  of  Love,  or 
as  one  walks  through  the  broken  columns  of  Karnak, 
or  wanders  over  the  sun-baked  hills  to  the  tombs  of 
the  kings,  one  feels  as  if  living  in  another  world, 
a  dead  world.  It  is  a  relief  to  be  brought  back 
to  the  present,  livable,  human  world,  by  seeing 
the  tired  fellah  stop  the  loading  of  his  camel  and 


EGYPT  OF  THE  PAST  97 


kneel  by  his  side,  while  echoing  the  name  that  is 
on  the  lips  of  all  Egypt,  the  name  of  Allah,  yet  we 
know  that  those  old  dead  kings  were  worshipping 
the  same  god  although  they  called  him  Osiris  or 
Ra  or  Amun. 


CHAPTER  IV 


KEEPING  HOUSE  IN  CAIRO 

I LEARNED,  after  a  few  days'  stay  in  Cairo, 
that  if  I  were  to  become  friends  with  the 
Egyptian  lady  I  must  have  a  place  in  which 
to  receive  her,  other  than  a  public  hotel.    No  woman 
of  any  respectability  will  go  to  an  hotel,  where  she 
may  be  seen  by  men,  consequently  we  decided  to 
hire  an  apartment  after  our  return  from  Luxor. 
The  night  before  we  started  I  went  across  the 
street  to  the  book-store  where  we  bought  our  papers 
and  magazines,  and  had  our  pictures  developed, 
and  talked  with  the  little  Greek  proprietress  who 
had  always  been  so  accommodating.    I  did  not 
tell  her  our  real  reason  for  wishing  an  apartment, 
but  told  her  that  we  were  tired  of  sitting  through 
long-course  dinners  where  we  had  to  wait  until 
every  one  else  had  finished  their  course  before  the 
little  bell  announced  that  another  might  be  served. 
And  it  was  certainly  a  fact  that  we  were  tired 
98 


SEEKING  APARTMENTS 


99 


of  hotels.  We  fully  realized  the  beauty  of  the 
big  red-and-white  dining-room  at  Shepheard's,  the 
dexterity  of  the  Arab  waiters,  picturesque  in  their 
spotless  white  gowns  with  red  fez  and  belts,  but 
we  had  been  eating  in  ornate  dining-rooms  for 
many  months  in  sundry  hotels  all  over  the  world, 
and  the  novelty  had  worn  off.  We  were  longing  for 
a  nice  beef-steak  and  potatoes,  and  the  kind  of 
sociability  that  permits  one  to  prop  a  paper  against 
the  sugar-bowl  and  to  place  a  book  against  the 
fruit-dish,  and  only  to  talk  when  there  is  some- 
thing to  say,  or  to  keep  silent,  without  the  feeling 
that  the  woman  at  the  next  table  is  saying,  "  Do 
look  at  that  couple,  John.  They  have  not  spoken 
for  twenty  minutes.  I  am  sure  they  are 
married  !  " 

My  sympathetic  listener,  to  whom  I  poured  out 
my  woes,  understood  me  perfectly.  In  her  nice 
broken  English  she  said,  "  Madame  is  quite  right. 
Hotel  life  is  intolerable."  She  would  give  me  the 
name  of  a  most  charming  man  who  had  a  bureau 
of  location  (a  house  agency),  and  he  would  find  me 
a  place  that  would  bring  me  all  happiness.  She 
was  so  enthusiastic  that  my  cynical  soul,  hardened 
by  much  travelling  and  repulsing  the  birds  of  prey 
that  live  upon  tourists,  immediately  wondered  if 


100  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


she  would  receive  a  commission  upon  the  rent  of 
the  apartment.  Then  I  decided  that  it  could  not 
be,  as  no  one  ever  comes  to  Cairo  to  keep  house. 
They  hurry  through  on  their  way  to  Luxor  or 
Assuan  and  the  tombs  of  the  kings,  giving  '  Cairo 
and  the  bazaars  and  the  Pyramids  a  hurried  look, 
either  going  or  coming.  I  learned  later  that  she 
was  only  kindly  and  really  wished  to  help,  which  is 
the  attitude  of  most  of  the  people  of  Cairo  when 
they  see  you  are  not  a  globe-trotter,  with  only 
thirty  minutes  to  give  to  the  Sphinx,  and  are 
therefore  willing  to  pay  a  dollar  a  minute  for  the 
sight. 

I  returned  to  the  hotel  and  wrote  to  the  Greek 
gentleman  with  the  unpronounceable  name,  telling 
him  I  would  be  in  Cairo  in  about  six  weeks  and 
imploring  his  assistance.  My  letter  was  in  French, 
which  is  a  remarkably  easy  language  to  speak,  if 
you  are  not  over-particular  in  regard  to  conjugations, 
but  it  is  more  difficult  to  write.  It  was  evidently 
understood,  however,  for  when  I  returned  I  found 
a  neat  lady-like  note  in  tiny  French  writing,  telling 
me  that  the  very  place  was  awaiting  me.  Needless 
to  say,  I  called  immediately,  and  much  to  my 
surprise — I  had  judged  him  from  his  handwriting 
— I  found  the  agent  to  be  a  big,  stout  Greek,  looking 


THE  OBLIGING  GREEK  101 


like  a  retired  brigand,  with  flashing  black  eyes, 
and  teeth  that  glistened  from  beneath  his  iron  grey 
moustache. 

He  took  me  to  several  places  that  were  impossible, 
and  I  began  to  get  discouraged.  I  sighed  audibly, 
and  told  him  that  probably  I  could  not  find  exactly 
what  I  wanted,  and  should  be  compelled  to  stay 
for  the  rest  of  my  visit  in  Cairo  at  an  hotel.  The 
gentleman  from  Greece  stopped  in  the  middle  of 
the  street.  "  Madame  wishes,  then,  really  to  keep 
house  ?  "  he  asked.  I  assented  mournfully,  won- 
dering if  my  French  was  absolutely  unintelligible. 
I  had  talked  of  housekeeping  for  two  hours  as  I 
climbed  one  pair  of  stairs  after  another  with  him. 
I  went  over  the  whole  subject  again. 

He  listened  respectfully,  then  he  put  his  finger, 
to  one  side  of  his  nose.  "  I  see,  I  see,"  he  said. 
"  Madame  is  tired  of  the  execrable  food  of  the 
hotel.  Madame  has  reason.  She  shall  keep  house. 
She  shall  have  of  the  food  of  Cairo,  the  good  food, 
the  where  there  is  no  better.  Ah  !  the  young 
lamb  !  Madame,  it  is  delicieuse — delicieuse,  de- 
licieuse  ;  the  little  chickens  which  just  now  come  in 
the  market — beautiful — beautiful  !  "  and  he  kissed 
the  tips  of  his  fingers  and  blew  the  caress  lightly 
into  the  air  somewhere  in  the  direction  of  Heliopolis. 


102  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


I  was  so  delighted  with  this  playfulness  on  the 
part  of  my  rather  obese  friend,  that  we  stopped 
again  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  were  nearly 
run  down  by  a  man  on  a  motor-cycle  who  left 
behind  him  expletives  in  several  languages  as  he 
flew  by. 

We  found  the  place,  three  rooms  with  kitchen  and 
laundry.  It  was  on  the  third  floor  of  a  building 
that  a  few  years  ago  was  the  fashionable  hotel  of 
Cairo,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  city,  within  walking 
distance  of  everything  one  wants  to  see.  But  it 
was  not  the  location  that  decided  me  so  much  as 
the  view  from  the  three  windows  of  the  big  square 
sitting-room.  From  the  north  we  looked  over  the 
brown  Libyan  Hills,  and  from  the  east  we  saw  the 
slow-moving  Nile  in  the  distance.  There  were  no 
buildings  higher  than  ours,  and  old  Cairo  with  its 
mosques  and  minarets  lay  at  our  feet. 

The  night  saw  us  installed,  our  books  piled  on 
the  rather  rickety  bookshelves  near  the  desk,  which 
was  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  man  who  works ; 
trunks  sent  to  some  unknown  place  below,  and 
arrangements  made  with  the  Armenian  woman 
and  Arab  boy  who  were  to  be  our  servants  and  guide 
us  through  the  shoals  that  might  engulf  us  in  our 
new  adventure.     When  they  came  to  say  "Good 


LICENSED   PORTER  IN  THE  MARKET,   CAIRO   (see  p .  IO9). 
IO3 


MY  ARAB  SERVANT 


105 


night ! ' '  the  soft-voiced  little  Armenian  murmured 
"  Dormez  bien  ! "  and  the  Arab  touched  his  head 
and  then  his  bosom,  meaning  "  I  salute  you  with  my 
head  and  with  my  heart,"  and  as  we  leaned  from 
our  windows  to  watch  the  lights  of  Cairo  we  de- 
cided there  were  no  happier  people  in  all  the  world. 

Much  to  the  disgust  of  the  Arab  boy,  whose  name 
was  Ramazan,  I  decided  to  go  to  the  market  with 
him.  He  explained  that  it  was  entirely  unnecessary, 
but  I  also  explained  and  insisted  that  I  could  tell 
nothing  about  the  life  of  the  native  unless  I  went 
out  to  see  it.  It  would  not  come  to  me,  and  where 
can  one  see  more  of  the  real  life  of  the  common 
people  than  in  the  markets  where  they  buy  their 
food? 

We  went  through  little  streets  and  alleys,  the 
boy  rushing  as  if  he  were  going  to  a  fire,  while  I 
tried  to  keep  him  in  view  and  also  look  at  the  many 
queer  sights  that  greeted  me  at  every  turn.  When 
I  looked  up  from  admiring  a  camel  making  his  way 
slowly  down  the  crowded  street,  my  boy  would 
be  somewhere  around  the  next  corner  or  would 
come  rushing  back  to  find  me,  wondering  what  I 
could  see  in  the  stupid  streets  to  attract  me. 

The  market  is  most  cosmopolitan.  Practically 
every  known  language  is  spoken  there — English, 


106         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 

French,  Greek,  Spanish,  Italian,  Turkish,  and  of 
course,  Arabic.  French,  however,-- prevails,  for 
France  had  a  strong  linguistic  hold  on  Egypt  for 
many  years  previous  to  the  English  occupation. 
The  fruit  and  vegetables  are  sold  by  Egyptian  men 
and  women,  but  the  butchers'  shops  are  mainly  in 
the  hands  of  the  French.  I  found  to  my  sorrow 
while  in  Cairo,  that  being  a  foreign  tradesman  is 
not  a  passport  for  honesty.  There  may  be  some- 
thing in  the  air  of  Egypt,  but  the  French  shop- 
keepers, both  big  and  little,  have  acquired  at  least 
one  of  the  failings  of  the  Arab — a  lack  of  com- 
mercial probity.  But  where  the  Arab  is  satisfied 
with  a  small  percentage,  the  wily  Frenchman  tries 
to  figure  out  how  much  you  can  be  mulcted  without 
making  an  outcry,  and  then  proceeds  accordingly. 
One  must  be  cautious  while  in  Cairo,  to  say  the 
least. 

The  vegetable  market  is  extremely  good.  Every 
known  variety  is  temptingly  displayed,  and  at 
most  reasonable  prices — for  the  Arab  buyer.  For 
instance,  when  I  bought  tomatoes  I  could  get  four 
for  two  piastres,  about  fivepence,  but  Ramazan 
could  get  for  the  same  money  ten  great  luscious 
beauties  which  he  would  choose  from  a  basket, 
putting  aside  all  that  were  not  perfect,  and  which 


MARKET  PORTERS 


109 


were  sold  to  unsophisticated  shoppers  like  myself. 
One  is  beset  by  hawkers,  who  carry  baskets  of 
oranges  on  their  heads,  or  by  the  lemon-man  who 
carries  his  goods  concealed  somewhere  about  his 
person.  The  strawberry-man  is  always  in  evidence, 
and  will  follow  one  all  over  the  market,  endeavour- 
ing to  persuade  one  to  buy  his  wares. 

In  many  foreign  cities  it  would  be  impossible 
to  shop  in  the  public  market-place,  but  Cairo  is  so 
large  and  has  such  a  mixed  population  that  you 
find  yourself  only  one  of  many,  lost  in  the  stream 
of  cosmopolitanism.  English  women  of  the  poorer 
class  are  there,  French,  Armenian,  Soudanese, 
Jewish,  and  Turkish,  but  no  native  women  except 
those  who  are  selling  produce  of  some  kind. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  market  are  porters  sitting 
beside  their  baskets,  to  carry  home  the  purchases 
of  people  who  have  not  brought  a  servant,  and 
little  girls  wander  about,  begging  with  pretty 
gestures  to  be  allowed  to  take  your  basket  upon 
their  heads  and  carry  it  for  you.  They  charge 
about  half  the  price  of  the  licensed  porters,  and 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  they  are  chased  from  one 
place  to  another  by  the  men  who  have  paid  the 
municipality  for  this  chance  to  earn  their  liveli- 
hood. 


110         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


In  the  market  are  Italian  shops,  where  macaroni 
and  pastes  dear  to  the  Italian  are  sold,  and  Greek 
stalls  that  handle  only  specialities  from  Greece. 
Imported  delicacies  from  every  country  may  be 
found,  and  for  those  who  have  a  "  sweet  tooth," 
Cairo  is  a  paradise.  Besides  the  foreign  French 
patisseries  which  sell  the  delicate  cakes  that  make 
one  think  of  the  tea-shops  in  Paris,  there  are  Syrian 
cake-shops,  and  queer  places  where  one  may  buy 
Turkish  sweets  with  the  flavour  of  attar  of  roses. 
The  Egyptians  have  within  their  bakeries  great 
trays  of  cakes,  altogether  too  rich,  but  so  delicious 
that  one  forgets  that  greediness  has  its  own  reward. 

On  the  way  to  the  market  we  met  barrow-men 
with  great  heaps  of  tender  cucumbers  that  are 
eaten  as  a  fruit  by  the  natives,  old  and  young. 
When  one  sees  tiny  children  sitting  on  the  kerb 
crunching  with  delight  the  cucumbers,  skin  and  all, 
one  is  not  surprised  that  the  officials  state  that 
sixty-five  per  cent,  of  the  babies  born  in  Cairo  die 
before  they  are  four  years  old. 

The  woman  selling  sugar-cane  and  my  orange- 
woman  sat  side  by  side  upon  the  dusty  street,  gos- 
siping and  laughing  between  sales,  flashing  their 
black  eyes  from  over  their  veils  as  they  begged  of 
the  passer-by  to  eat  of  the  sweet  oranges  or  buy 


AN  ORANGE -WOMAN. 


THE  ORANGE-WOMAN  113 


the  succulent  sugar-cane,  if  only  to  whiten  the 
teeth.  The  orange-woman  was  especially  pretty, 
with  a  shy  sweet  smile  that  tried  to  distract  my 
attention  from  the  bad  orange  she  was  slipping 
into  my  basket.  Her  lips  were  tattooed  in  little 
stars  that  extended  in  three  lines  over  her  chin 
and  were  lost  in  the  necklace  that  she  wore.  Her 
black  gown  hung  in  straight  folds  to  her  feet,  and 
over  it  was  a  black  shawl  that  covered  her  entirely, 
and  was  held  in  place  under  her  left  arm.  On  her 
bare  ankles  were  many  cheap  silver  anklets,  and 
her  arms  held  bracelets  of  silver  and  glass  that 
clinked  as  she  moved. 

A  camel  wandered  through  the  narrow  alleys 
with  two  enormous  baskets  of  lettuce  attached  to 
his  pack-saddle.  He  paid  no  attention  to  the  world 
in  general,  looking  as  if  he  were  still  on  the  desert, 
with  only  the  tropical  sky  above  him  and  the  sands 
beneath  his  padded  feet.  A  oamel  may  have  a 
most  undignified  load — sacks  of  onions,  or  great 
pieces  of  sugar-cane  trailing  far  behind  him  in  the 
roadway — but  he  always  holds  his  head  proudly, 
and  seems  conscious  of  his  dignity.  The  Arabs 
tell  you  that  he  comes  by  his  manner  in  a  most 
legitimate  way,  and  has  just  cause  to  be  proud. 
Every  good  Mohammedan  knows  the  ninety -nine 
6 


114         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


names  of  Allah,  but  the  secret  of  the  hundredth 
name  has  been  whispered  only  in  the  ear  of  the 
camel,  and  he  will  never  tell  it.  It  is  this  know- 
ledge of  the  confidence  that  has  been  reposed  in 
him  that  gives  him  his  arrogant  look  and  carriage. 

I  found  it  impossible  to  buy  of  the  itinerant 
merchants,  because  I  could  tell  nothing  about  the 
weight.  Their  scales  have  as  weights  a  piece  of 
brass,  a  rock,  a  few  nails,  and  perhaps  a  little  sand 
sprinkled  on  the  balance  to  help  it  to  adjust  itself. 
Yet  their  cheating  is  generally  infinitesimal,  and  it 
is  worth  the  money  to  watch  the  process  and  per- 
haps get  a  snapshot. 

The  market  people  found  me  an  easy  customer, 
but  when  I  took  the  Armenian  woman  for  guide — 
her  name,  by  the  way,  was  Souprik  Poutik,  and 
we  called  her  "  Spittook  "  for  short — they  met 
their  Waterloo.  My  first  day's  experiences  were 
enough.  I  expected  every  moment  to  be  taken  in 
charge  by  a  policeman.  She  beat  an  orange-man, 
who  was  helpless  because  of  his  enormous  baskets 
of  oranges  which  he  tried  to  protect,  scattering  the 
golden  balls  throughout  the  market  in  his  efforts 
to  get  away  from  her.  She  wrangled  with  the 
egg-man,  who  looked  like  a  peaceable  little  fat  god 
amongst  his  eggs  until  this  termagant  called  him 


MY  ARMENIAN  GUIDE  117 


a  thief  and  the  son  of  a  thief,  and  the  father  of 
generations  of  thieves,  because  he  would  not  give 
eleven  eggs  for  fivepence  instead  of  ten. 

On  the  way  home  she  went  to  a  barrow-man  to 
buy  from  him  a  green  vegetable  looking  something 
like  parsley.  I  sat  down  on  a  box  in  the  shade  of 
a  small  shop,  knowing  it  would  be  a  process  of 
much  length  and  argument,  as  Spittook  intended 
spending  at  least  a  sixpence  of  her  own  money. 
She  carefully  chose  the  different  pieces  of  vegetable, 
and  they  were  weighed.  Spittook  put  one  more 
piece  on  the  scales  ;  the  man  took  it  out.  Spittook 
put  it  back  ;  then  they  argued.  The  man  rolled 
his  eyes,  struck  attitudes,  beat  his  chest,  struck  his 
forehead.  He  was  being  robbed,  he  declared  ;  his 
family  would  starve,  etc. 

In  the  meantime  a  big,  awkward,  half-grown 
goose  came  waddling  along,  looking  like  a  bad  boy 
playing  truant.  He  loafed  past  the  push  cart, 
casting  a  mischievous  eye  aloft  to  see  what  he 
might  chance  to  find  lying  unprotected.  Lo  ! 
there  was  a  small  piece  of  green  hanging  over  the 
side.  He  rose  up  on  his  toes  ;  he  could  just  reach 
it.  In  pulling  it  down,  another  became  loosened, 
and  another,  and  another,  and  as  the  man  and 
Spittook  wrangled  over  one  small  morsel,  at  least 


118         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


ten  went  down  the  throat  of  Mr.  Gosling.  Just 
as  Spittook  won  the  argument  and  added  the  extra 
piece  to  her  basket,  the  man  turned  and  saw  the 
goose  struggling  with  an  especially  succulent  piece 
of  his  precious  vegetable.  His  face  was  a  tragedy, 
and  we  left  him  calling  down  curses  upon  women 
and  geese  alike,  but  with  an  added  emphasis  upon 
the  women. 

Housekeeping  is  made  easy  in  Cairo  through 
the  labour  of  the  Arab  women.  The  laundry  work 
was  done  by  a  tall,  dark  woman,  who  looked  far 
too  stately  as  she  entered,  robed  in  her  long  black 
gown  and  the  all-enveloping  shawl,  to  be  merely 
the  laundry  woman.  She  sat  beside  a  shallow- 
tub  and  rubbed  the  clothes  with  her  hands,  boiled 
them  over  a  charcoal  fire  in  a  Standard  Oil  tin,  and 
rinsed  them  in  another.  She  had  no  conveniences 
whatever,  but  her  work  was  well  done,  and  the 
blessed  sunshine  and  dry  air  aided  her.  Half  an 
hour  on  the  roof,  and  the  linen  was  dry  and  dazzling, 
bleached  by  the  scorching  African  sun. 

The  Standard  Oil  Company  surely  conferred  a 
blessing  upon  Egypt  when  it  invented  the  oil-tin. 
It  is  used  by  many  women  who  carry  water,  instead 
of  the  picturesque  jar  they  formerly  balanced  upon 
their  heads ;  it  is  the  universal  garbage  tin  of  the 


119 


THE  USES  OF  OIL  TINS  121 


poor  in  Egypt ;  it  is  made  into  slates  for  the  youth 
in  the  native  schools,  and  it  is  the  storing  place 
of  vegetables,  flour,  beans,  and  clothing — in  fact 
I  have  been  in  little  huts  which  had  no  furniture 
except  half  a  dozen  oil-tins  along  one  side  of  the 
room,  and  a  big  dish  in  which  to  cook  the  food  over 
the  three  stones  serving  as  stove.  For  chairs  and 
table  and  bed  the  beaten  earth  was  sufficient. 

The  working  women  of  Cairo  have  a  most  majestic 
carriage  that  comes  from  the  habit  of  carrying  all 
their  burdens  on  their  heads.  Sometimes  one  sees 
most  ludicrous  things  carried  in  this  manner,  as 
when  I  opened  my  door  one  day  and  saw  a  woman 
standing  with  a  hand  sewing-machine  nicely  balanced 
upon  her  head.  She  wished  to  do  my  plain  sewing. 
I  had  no  work  for  her,  but  she  earned  a  day's  wages 
by  posing  for  her  picture,  and  went  away  very 
happy. 

When  I  was  ready  to  leave  Cairo  I  gave  an  Ameri- 
can blue-flame  oil-stove  to  a  friend,  and  she  sent  her 
cook  for  explanations  in  regard  to  its  use.  I  lighted 
it  for  him  and  showed  him  the  inner  mechanism. 
According  to  the  etiquette  of  oil-stoves,  it  takes 
about  ten  minutes  for  the  oil  to  burn  entirely  out 
and  extinguish  the  flame.  The  cook  was  in  a  hurry 
and  would  not  wait,  and  against  all  my  remon- 


122 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


strances  he .  placed  the  stove  upon  his  head,  and 
the  last  I  saw  of  him  he  was  walking  calmly  down 
the  crowded  street  with  a  flame  at  least  a  foot  high 
shooting  out  from  his  apparently  lighted  turban. 

I  look  back  to  my  housekeeping  experiences  in 
Cairo  as  one  of  the  happiest  times  of  my  life.  We 
worked  during  the  day  and  when  the  sun  became 
less  hot  we  wandered  down  the  narrow  native 
streets,  shopping,  exploring,  enjoying  every  bit  of 
the  Eastern  life,  so  different  from  the  prosaic 
Western  world  from  which  we  came.  When  we 
were  tired  we  sat  down  at  some  out-of-door  cafe  and 
drank  the  delicious  Turkish  coffee,  and  watched 
the  sky  turn  to  the  sapphire  blue  that  heralds  the 
coming  of  the  Egyptian  night.  All  the  Egyptian 
world  of  poor  people  passed  us  by,  the  street  mu- 
sicians entertained  us,  the  hawkers  showed  their 
wares.  When  the  stars  came  out  we  strolled  to 
some  hotel  or  restaurant  for  dinner  or  slowly  climbed 
our  stairs,  thankful  that  we  had  a  place  that  seemed 
like  home.  My  Egyptian  friends  came  to  me, 
knowing  they  would  be  as  secluded  as  within  their 
own  harems,  and  the  months  passed  far  too  quickly, 
as  we  worked  and  played  and  saw  Cairo  as  few  see  it. 

We  read  of  Egypt  and  her  Pharaohs  and  her 
past  grandeur,  and  we  looked  about  us  and  saw 


A  QUIET  LIFE 


125 


Egypt  with  her  new  civilization,  her  thirst  for 
education,  her  dawning  respect  for  women,  and  we 
felt  that  there  was  a  great  leavening  process  at  work 
in  this  land  of  the  Nile.  Perhaps  it  is  due  to  the 
influence  of  England  who  holds  this  country  in  her 
firm  but  just  grasp,  or  to  the  realization  of  the 
dreams  of  the  missionaries  who  have  been  working 
so  long  with  apparently  few  results,  or  it  may  be 
the  fruits  of  that  faith  that  made  our  black  Berber 
door-keeper  kneel  down  by  the  side  of  the  steps, 
his  face  towards  Mecca,  and  utter  his  prayer,  un- 
conscious of  the  world  that  came  and  went  beside 
him.  The  call  came  to  us  five  times  a  day  from 
the  minaret  on  the  mosque  near  by,  and  this  call  to 
prayer  had  the  deep,  earnest  note  of  a  religion  that 
influences  all  Egypt.  We  heard  it  in  the  morning 
before  the  day  broke  and  as  we  threw  back  the 
blinds  to  have  a  good  night  look  at  the  lights  of 
Cairo,  the  muzzein's  voice  came  to  us  in  his  solemn 
chant,  "  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed 
is  His  Prophet.' ' 


CHAPTER  V 


FEMININE  CHARACTERISTICS 

THERE  are  five  distinct  types  of  women  in 
Egypt,  distinguished  from  each  other  to  the 
onlooker  chiefly  by  their  costumes  :  the  high- 
class  Egyptian  lady,  the  woman  of  the  middle 
class,  the  lower-class  labouring  woman  of  the  city, 
the  Fellaha  or  peasant  woman,  and  the  Bedouin 
who  dwells  in  the  desert. 

Generally  the  Egyptian  women  from  the  age  of 
fourteen  to  twenty-five  are  beautiful  both  in  form 
and  face.  They  have  large  black  eyes  with  lashes 
very  thick  and  long  ;  these  lashes  have  no  curve  and 
give  a  peculiar  veiled  expression  to  the  eyes,  making 
them  appear  darker  and  larger  than  they  really 
are.  Their  noses  are  fine  and  delicate,  their  lips 
an  exquisite  bow  shape.  Their  teeth  are  white, 
and  their  hands  and  feet,  when  not  deformed 
by  labour,  dainty  and  delicate.  The  skin  is  of  a 
light  tan,  but  rarely  does  one  see  colour  in  the 

126 


I27 


THE  LADY  OF  EGYPT  129 


cheeks.  The  hair  is  of  a  deep  glossy  black,  rather 
coarse,  but  never  with  the  true  Egyptian  is  it 
woolly. 

The  lady  of  Egypt  is  rarely  seen.  One  catches 
glimpses  of  her  in  carriages  or  motor-cars,  the  im- 
pression being  of  a  woman  dressed  in  black  with  a 
thin  veil  of  white  chiffon  covering  the  lower  part 
of  her  face.  This  veil,  however,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  the  old-fashioned,  conservative  Egyptian,  is 
becoming  thinner  each  year  ;  in  fact,  it  is  often  but 
an  added  attraction,  making  an  ugly  face  pretty 
and  adding  an  air  of  mystery  and  charm  to  a 
beautiful  one. 

In  the  home  the  Egyptian  lady  dresses  much  like 
a  French  woman  of  the  same  social  standing  ;  even 
the  silk  hosiery  and  high-heeled  French  slippers 
are  not  wanting.  This  lady  also  partakes  of  the 
Europeanization  of  Egypt  and  reveals  the  influence 
of  Western  civilization  which  is  so  rapidly  and 
thoroughly  working  a  revolution  in  this  ancient 
land,  but  the  traditions  and  customs  of  her  country 
are  still  powerful  enough  to  require  her  to  wear 
the  black  skirt  of  silk  or  satin  and  a  cape-like  piece 
of  the  same  goods  turned  up  at  the  waist-line  for 
a  head-covering,  when  she  appears  outside  of  the 
harem. 


130  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


The  Egyptian  woman  of  the  higher  class  is  be- 
coming Europeanized,  as  evidenced  not  only  by 
the  motor-cars  and  carriages  with  coachmen  and 
chauffeurs  in  foreign  liveries,  and  her  dresses  direct 
from  Paris,  but  also  by  the  furnishings  of  her  home. 
Instead  of  the  rich  Eastern  homes  of  the  Arabian 
Nights  with  their  lamps  and  rugs  and  elaborate 
hangings,  we  now  see  the  drawing-room  filled  with 
French  furniture,  gilt  chairs,  instead  of  divans, 
rich  Louis  XV.  tables  in  place  of  the  low  taborets ; 
electric  chandeliers  glittering  with  cut  glass  have 
replaced  the  old  elaborate  lamps  that  are  now 
rarely  seen  except  in  mosques,  museums,  and  curio 
shops.  The  lady  also  now  serves  afternoon  tea 
instead  of  Turkish  coffee  and  the  scented  drinks 
that  were  the  favourite  beverages  in  the  olden  time, 
while,  instead  of  "  visiting''  her  friends  for  the  day, 
she  now  makes  fashionable  calls. 

She  travels  also,  and  as  soon  as  the  ship  leaves 
the  harbour  of  Alexandria  or  Port  Said,  the  veil 
is  laid  aside  and  she  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
the  cultured,  well-educated  lady  of  any  country. 
It  would  be  hard  to  tell  her  nationality,  as  generally 
her  command  of  the  French  language  is  perfect, 
and  she  might  be  considered  a  woman  of  Turkey  or 
Greece  or  even  of  France.    But  when  again  the  ship 


EGYPTIAN  LADY  IN  STREET  DRESS. 
131 


THE  MIDDLE-CLASS  WOMAN  133 


arrives  in  an  Egyptian  port  she  dons  the  dress  of 
her  people  and  is  the  veiled  Egyptian  lady. 

Another  type  also  rarely  seen  in  the  street,  and 
who  are  the  chief  preservers  of  the  ancient  customs 
of  Egypt,  since  they  are  brought  less  frequently 
into  touch  with  European  influences,  are  the  women 
of  the  great  middle  class,  the  wives  of  the  lawyers, 
doctors,  teachers,  small  officials  and  professional 
men  of  all  grades  as  well  as  the  women  belonging 
to  the  upper  merchant  class.  Their  homes  have 
not  been  subjected  to  such  a  radical  change  as  that 
seen  among  the  Egyptian  aristocracy,  although  it 
is  evident  that  the  only  reason  for  this  difference 
has  been  the  lack  of  opportunity. 

The  middle-class  woman,  like  her  sister  of  the 
upper  class,  may  be  a  good  judge  of  what  is  con- 
sistent in  the  wray  of  decoration  of  a  purely  Egyptian 
home,  but  when  she  tries  to  replace  her  native 
furnishings  with  those  of  France,  the  effect  is 
baneful.  Instead  of  the  softened  colouring  of  the 
Eastern  carpets  and  hangings  she  is  likely  to  sub- 
stitute the  gaudy  dyes  of  Europe's  worst  manu- 
factures ;  while  she  is  inclined  to  mistake  gilding, 
mirrors,  and  ornate  work  for  cosmopolitanism  and 
culture. 

If  one  is  fortunate  enough  to  penetrate  the 


134  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


home  of  a  conservative  Egyptian  untouched  by 
Western  ideas,  one  finds  it  a  thing  of  beauty  and 
a  rest  to  jaded  nerves  and  tired  eyes,  with  its 
closely  drawn  blinds  shutting  out  the  fierce  tropical 
light  and  heat,  its  court  with  the  fountain  sending 
up  its  cooling  waters,  flowers,  the  comfortable 
divans  covered  with  soft-toned  rugs,  shaded  lights, 
exquisite  brass  trays  on  which  stand  the  tiny 
china  cups  in  their  small  brass  or  silver  holders, 
from  which  one  drinks  the  coffee  served  by  white- 
clad,  quiet  servants — it  is  all  Eastern  and  gives 
the  sense  of  repose  and  leisure. 

The  women  of  this  great  class  dress,  when  out- 
side of  their  homes,  similarly  to  those  in  the 
highest  social  scale,  but  within  the  house  they  wear 
a  galabeigh,  a  sort  of  glorified  empire-gown 
hanging  straight  from  the  shoulder  or  gathered 
to  a  yoke,  and  having  a  long  train  behind.  This 
garment  is  made  of  silk  or  satin,  and  often  is 
elaborately  trimmed.  If  custom  restricts  them 
to  black  while  in  the  street,  they  exercise  their 
individual  taste  in  regard  to  colours  within  their 
apartments.  I  have  seen  a  group  of  ladies  with 
their  pink,  blue,  and  yellow  galabeighs,  looking 
like  a  flock  of  gaily  plumaged  birds. 

Both  the  upper  and  middle  class  wear  an  im- 


WOMEN  OF  THE  WORKING  CLASSES  137 


mense  amount  of  jewellery,  which  lately  has  taken 
the  shape  of  pins,  ear-rings,  and  bracelets  from  the 
French  shops  on  the  Kaiser  en  Nil,  instead  of 
ornaments  from  the  goldsmiths  in  the  bazaars. 
The  long  pendant  ear-rings  covered  with  fine 
diamonds,  and  necklaces  of  coloured  precious  stones, 
are  the  ornaments  now  coveted,  and  quantity  not 
quality  is  the  chief  desire  of  the  woman  whose 
husband's  purse  is  large  enough  to  bring  her  these 
tokens  of  his  affection.  She  differs  in  this  respect 
from  the  woman  of  China,  who  is  also  peering 
into  the  outside  world,  but  who  seems  to  under- 
stand that  pearls  and  jade,  not  diamonds  and 
rubies,  are  the  proper  setting  for  her  Eastern 
beauty. 

The  third  class  one  sees  in  the  cities  of  Egypt 
is  the  woman  of  the  lower  walks  of  life,  the  wife  of 
the  workman,  the  small  shop-keeper,  the  servant, 
and  the  craftsman.  She  is  dressed  in  a  galabeigh 
of  black  or  coloured  cotton,  over  which,  when 
in  the  streets,  she  draws  a  piece  of  black  material 
which  entirely  covers  her  body  and  is  held  in  place 
beneath  the  left  arm.  Her  face- veil  is  black  or 
of  cloth  inset  with  pieces  of  open-work,  and  often, 
by  the  old-fashioned  ladies,  held  down  by  coins 
sewed  to  its  lower  edges.    A  nose-piece  of  yellow 


138         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


wood  and  gold  or  brass  is  sewed  to  the  top  of  the 
veil,  holding  it  in  place,  and  is  kept  firm  by  a 
ribbon  around  the  head  beneath  the  shawl.  This 
arrangement  effectually  conceals  the  face  with 
the  exception  of  the  eyes,  and  these  are  difficult 
to  discern,  because  of  the  disfiguring  nose-piece. 

This  veil  is  of  remote  antiquity,  but  judging 
from  the  sculptures  and  paintings  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  it  would  seem  to  have  been  inaugurated 
since  those  early  times.  It  was,  however,  used  by 
nearly  all  women  of  Eastern  races,  and  is  spoken 
of  in  the  Old  Testament : 

"  Rebecca  said  to  the  servant,  What  man  is 
this  that  walketh  in  the  field  to  meet  us  ?  And 
the  servant  said,  It  is  my  master.  And  she  took 
her  veil  and  covered  herself."  St.  Paul  also  said, 
"  Is  it  seemly  that  a  woman  pray  to  God  unveiled  ?  " 

The  wife  of  the  poor  manual  labourer,  as  her 
richer  sister,  has  her  jewellery.  Her  ear-rings 
may  be  of  gold  or  silver,  and  her  necklace  of  glass 
beads  or  even  of  brass.  Her  bracelets  and  the 
anklets  hanging  over  her  bare  feet  are  often  of 
silver  or  the  cheaper  metals.  Yet  one  is  surprised 
often  to  see  a  poor  woman  with  gold  ear-rings 
or  a  necklace  worth  many  piastres.  It  was  the 
poor  man's  form  of  investment  of  his  savings  in 


THE  POOR  MAN'S  INVESTMENTS  141 


the  olden  time  when  there  were  no  banks  in  which 
he  could  trust  his  hard-earned  money.  He  bought 
jewellery,  which  in  the  case  of  gold  is  practically 
pure,  and  can  be  converted  into  money  with 
little  loss. 

A  lady  in  Cairo  who  employs  a  woman  for  rough 
work  in  her  house,  told  me  a  story  that  illustrates 
the  utilitarian  use  of  jewellery,  apart  from  its 
beauty.  This  working  woman  was  extremely  poor, 
having  literal]}7  but  one  dress.  One  day  she  was 
given  a  little  lamb,  and  she  raised  it  until  it 
became  the  desired  weight,  when  it  was  taken  to 
the  near-by  butcher.  The  money  realized  was 
spent,  not  for  clothes  nor  for  food,  but  for  a  pair 
of  gold  ear-rings.  When  remonstrated  with  in 
regard  to  the  apparent  foolishness  of  her  purchase, 
she  said,  "  I  would  wear  out  the  clothes  and  eat 
the  food,  but  these  will  last,  and  when  we  have  no 
money  we  can  always  go  to  the  pawn-shop."  Her 
choice  seemed  justified  because  the  ear-rings  have 
made_many  a  journey  to  the  man  who  lends  money. 

The  working-classes  of  Egypt  are  little  in  advance 
of  the  wolf  that  seems  to  be  always  following  them, 
and  it  gives  a  sense  of  security  to  feel  that  they 
have  at  least  one  thing  that  will  mean  bread,  if 
that  voracious  animal  gets  too  close. 


142         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


Another  reason  for  the  immense  amount  of 
jewellery  seen  on  all  classes  of  Egyptian  women 
is  the  fact  that  if  women  are  divorced  they  are 
entitled  to  their  wearing  apparel  as  well  as  any 
part  of  their  dowry  which  may  have  been  retained 
by  their  husbands  at  the  time  of  betrothal.  They 
may  not  be  able  to  get  the  dower,  but  there  can 
be  no  question  of  what  they  actually  have  upon 
their  persons. 

These  reasons  for  the  love  of  jewellery  may  be 
very  practical,  but  these  women  mainly  love 
jewellery  because  it  is  jewellery,  and  all  Eastern 
women,  Chinese,  Indian,  Turkish,  and  Egyptian, 
are  fond  of  adorning  themselves.  As  they  rely 
much  more  upon  personal  beauty  to  retain  the 
love  of  the  husband  than  does  the  Western 
woman,  they  take  advantage  of  all  the  arts  to 
adorn  that  beauty,  for  there  is  a  saying,  "  A 
woman  without  ornaments  is  like  a  field  without 
water." 

While  travelling  up  the  Nile  one  sees  the  small 
villages  which  seem  to  be  a  part  of  the  soil,  so 
neutral  is  their  colour.  The  houses  are  made 
from  sun-dried  bricks,  the  only  thing  to  make 
one  really  believe  they  are  not  a  veritable  part  of 
the  sands  of  the  desert  being  the  whitened  cupola 


THEIR  LOVE  OF  JEWELLERY  145 


of  a  mosque  or  the  dome  of  the  tomb  of  some 
saint  or  holy  man. 

Even  the  dress  of  the  woman  is  dull  and  wretched 
looking.  You  see  her  as  she  comes  down  the 
narrow  pathway  leading  to  the  river  or  canal,  her 
water- jar  balanced  sideways  upon  her  head,  her 
blue  or  black  galabeigh  hanging  in  straight  lines 
from  her  shoulders,  her  bare  feet  half  covered  with 
the  heavy  anklets.  She  has  no  face-veil,  but  on 
meeting  you  she  draws  an  end  of  the  long  black 
head-covering  across  her  mouth  and  peers  at  you 
curiously  from  above  it.  She  has  a  beautiful 
carriage,  and  the  gesture,  superb  and  supple  as  she 
bends  to  the  river  and  places  the  filled  jar  upon 
her  head,  cannot  be  equalled  for  grace.  But  her 
hands  are  roughened  from  toil,  and  she  becomes 
old  before  her  time.  Her  life  is  passed  in  heavy 
work,  and  in  her  simple  home  are  few  conveniences. 

The  house  is  only  a  couple  of  rooms  opening 
upon  a  small  yard,  around  which  is  built  a  wall 
of  the  same  dun-coloured  brick.  Within  this 
small  enclosure  live  the  family  and  the  animals, 
the  donkey,  the  camel,  and  the  chickens.  The 
kitchen  consists  of  a  bare  dark  room,  with  a  few 
baskets  or  jars  along  the  sides  to  contain  the 
grain,  a  couple  of  stones  on  which  is  built  the  fire 
7 


146         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


to  heat  the  food  within  the  iron  cooking-pot. 
There  are  no  table,  no  chairs,  and  no  beds ;  the  earth 
serves  for  all  three.  At  night  a  mat  is  spread  upon 
the  beaten  ground,  and  the  entire  family  curl  upon 
it,  wrapped  in  their  clothes  of  the  day.  The  warm 
sunshine  and  rainless  days  and  nights  make  it 
possible  for  the  Egyptian  to  live  out  of  doors 
practically  ten  months  of  the  year.  This  fact 
accounts  for  their  healthfulness,  despite  their 
disregard  of  all  sanitary  laws. 

Their  food  is  simple.  Wheaten  bread  is  practi- 
cally an  unknown  luxury,  millet,  maize,  and  dourha 
forming  a  very  wholesome  substitute.  Meat  is 
rarely  eaten  by  the  peasant  except  on  great  occa- 
sions, and  then  mutton  is  preferred,  but  buffalo 
and  goats  are  also  used,  as  are  poultry  and  pigeons. 
Beans  and  lentils,  onions  and  garlic,  are  the  poor 
man's  vegetables,  while  cucumbers  and  a  large 
radish  are  eaten  raw  and  without  peeling  as  a 
fruit.  Sugar-cane  at  the  season  of  its  growth  is 
seen  in  the  hands  of  old  and  young,  while  musk- 
melons  and  water-melons  are  a  delight  to  the 
peasant.  The  women  make  a  sweet  from  the 
dried  and  pounded  dates,  that  is  used  especially  at 
the  time  of  feasts. 

All  the  work  of  preparing  this  food  falls  upon  the 


H7 


THE  WIVES  OF  THE  FELLAHEEN  149 


housewife.  She  must  clean  the  maize  and  grind 
it  in  the  mill,  then  make  the  bread,  which  is  a  most 
laborious  process.  In  fact  she  has  no  idle  life. 
She  spins  the  wool  and  cotton  for  the  clothing, 
often  weaves  the  cloth,  carries  the  water  from 
the  river,  and  gathers  the  mud  and  straw  to  make 
the  round,  flat  cakes  for  fuel,  which  she  stores 
upon  the  roof  or  within  the  courtyard.  In  the 
evening  she  or  the  children  take  the  camels  or  the 
goats  and  the  donkey  to  the  fields  and  watch 
them  while  they  eat  their  allotted  portion  of  bersein 
or  clover. 

In  moments  stolen  from  household  work  the 
women  weave  baskets  from  the  date-palm  leaves 
or  make  the  sleeping-mats  from  the  reeds,  which 
they  themselves  must  gather.  If  there  is  space 
upon  the  roof  or  within  the  tiny  courtyard  they 
keep  a  few  chickens  in  order  to  sell  the  eggs,  and 
add  a  little  to  their  limited  income.  The  wives  of 
the  Fellaheen  are  true  helpmates.  At  the  time  of 
harvest  one  sees  them  cutting  the  ripened  grain, 
or  carrying  it  in  great  bundles  upon  their  heads 
to  the  store-houses  within  the  village.  It  is  a 
life  of  toil,  with,  what  seems  to  Western  eyes, 
little  compensation. 

In  the  desert  one  sees  the  most  interesting  type 


150         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


of  all,  the  Bedouin.  She  is  generally  a  well-formed, 
tall,  strong  woman,  dressed  in  the  usual  black  or 
coloured  galabeigh,  with  the  addition  of  a  multi- 
coloured sash  wrapped  many  times  around  the 
waist.  Over  her  head  and  hanging  down  her 
back  is  a  veil  or  handkerchief,  but  she  does  not  veil 
her  face  unless  living  in  a  village.  In  the  life  of  a 
true  Bedouin,  that  is  a  dweller  in  the  tent,  the 
veiling  and  seclusion  of  the  women  are  not  practised. 
But  when  they  move  to  villages  and  live  in  houses 
they  imitate  their  neighbours  the  Egyptians  and 
seclude  their  women. 

While  the  Bedouin  does  not  dress  herself  in  silk 
or  satin,  like  the  city-dweller,  she  makes  up  for  this 
lack  of  richness  in  goods  by  her  love  for  native 
jewellery.  She  wears  gold  necklaces  with  balls  as 
big  as  hazel-nuts,  and  elaborate  pendants  hanging 
over  her  chest.  Often  she  has  rows  upon  rows 
of  gold  coins  attached  to  chains,  the  entire  body, 
from  the  waist  up,  being  covered  with  the  barbaric 
ornaments.  In  her  ears  she  wears  two  great 
rings,  one  from  the  top  of  the  ear  and  one  from 
the  lobe.  In  her  left  nostril  is  an  ornament,  and 
her  arms  are  covered  with  bracelets.  When  she 
walks  one  can  hear  the  tinkle  of  her  anklets. 
This  sound  is  so  common  that  there  is  a  Bedouin 


THE  BEDOUIN  WOMAN 


153 


song  which  begins  "  The  ringing  of  thine  anklets 
has  deprived  me  of  my  reason."  This  jewellery  has 
not  changed  its  shape  or  form  with  the  passage  of 
time.  It  is  practically  the  same  as  worn  by  the 
women  of  Judea  in  the  time  of  Isaiah : 

"  In  that  day  the  Lord  will  take  away  the  beauty 
of  their  anklets  and  the  cauls  and  crescents,  the 
pendants,  and  the  bracelets  and  the  mufflers,  the 
head  tires  and  the  ankle-chains ;  the  sashes  and 
the  perfume  boxes  and  the  amulets,  the  rings  and 
the  nose  jewels  .  .  .  and  the  turbans  and  the  veils." 

The  tent  Bedouin  rarely  leaves  the  camp.  Her 
world  is  the  low  tent  around  the  sides  of  which  are 
folded  the  rugs  and  sleeping-mats  and  blankets 
which  are  the  work  of  her  hands  and  the  exhibition 
of  her  riches.  On  the  part  of  the  tent  where  the 
family  sit  is  spread  a  rug  or  mat,  and  in  another 
part  on  the  bare  sand  are  the  stones  for  the  fire. 
Except  for  the  jars  or  baskets  and  sacks  to  hold 
provisions  and  extra  clothing,  there  is  no  furniture. 
The  food  is  mainly  mutton  cooked  in  different 
ways,  and  served  in  a  big  bowl,  around  which  the 
family  sit,  helping  themselves  from  the  common 
dish,  using  bread  as  plate  and  knife  and  fork.  The 
desert-dweller  cares  little  for  vegetables,  which 
fact  is,  perhaps,  accounted  for  by  his  inability 


154  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


to  raise  them  in  the  sands  that  surround  his 
home. 

The  Bedouin  and  many  of  the  lower-class  Egyptian 
women  tattoo  their  faces  with  three  or  four  dark- 
blue  lines  extending  from  the  lower  lip  over  the 
chin  to  the  neck.  Also  fancy  figures  are  tattooed 
on  the  hands,  and  the  wrists  are  often  marked  with 
bracelets  in  blue  ink.  Henna  is  used  to  stain  the 
hair,  giving  it  a  rich  dark-red,  that  when  not  used 
too  abundantly  is  very  pretty  in  the  jet-black  of 
the  natural  colour.  Grey  hair  is  considered  very 
ugly  and  is  always  dyed. 

It  is  only  in  the  desert  and  the  country  that  one 
sees  the  henna-stained  hands  and  feet,  as  it  is  not 
considered  fashionable  by  city  people.  The  inside 
of  the  hands  and  feet  is  coloured  a  deep  orange, 
and  the  nails  of  both  fingers  and  toes  are  touched 
with  the  dye,  often  the  fingers  showing  the  stain 
to  the  first  or  second  joint,  giving  a  most  uncleanly 
appearance  according  to  Western  standards. 

Practically  all  Eastern  women  wear  a  covering 
for  the  hair  both  in  and  out  of  the  house.  It  is 
generally  a  large  silk  handkerchief  or  veil  of  black 
with  a  coloured  border,  but  which,  at  time  of 
festivity,  is  changed  for  one  elaborately  embroidered 
or  sewn  with  sequins.    It  is  a  disgrace  to  allow 


A  WOMAN   OF  THE  DESERT. 


155 


HAIR-DRESSING 


157 


the  head  to  be  unveiled,  the  expression  "  She  is  a 
woman  without  a  veil  for  her  hair"  is  equivalent 
to  saying  "  She  is  without  shame." 

The  hair,  which  hardly  shows  at  all,  is  braided 
in  two  braids  hanging  down  the  back,  rather  like 
that  worn  by  the  school-girls  of  our  country,  except 
that  gold  coins  are  braided  into  the  ends,  and  clink 
and  glisten  from  under  the  veil  as  the  wearer  moves 
her  head.  At  present  the  Bedouin  who  wishes  to 
be  especially  progressive  makes  only  one  braid, 
which  is  a  decided  change  from  the  fashion  of  a 
few  years  ago,  when  the  hair  was  parted  into 
fourteen  sections,  each  one  tightly  braided  and 
woven  with  gold  coins. 

The  Bedouin  woman  has  much  more  liberty 
than  the  Egyptian  woman.  She  does  not  impress 
one  as  being  downtrodden  or  held  in  any  manner 
of  subjection.  She  shares  in  the  life  of  the  entire 
camp,  taking  a  keen  and  intelligent  interest  in  all 
that  affects  her  tribe.  Because  of  the  Bedouin 
customs  of  entertaining  the  traveller,  who  may  be 
passing  from  one  part  of  the  desert  to  another, 
she  gathers  the  gossip  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 
At  each  camp  the  chief  of  the  tribe  has  a  rest- 
house  where  any  Bedouin  may  stop,  stable  his 
horse,  and  receive  food  so  long  as  he  wishes.  The 


158  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


traveller  may  be  from  Tripoli  and  bring  the  latest 
news  of  the  war  or  from  the  Southern  Sahara. 

At  the  castle  of  a  chief  where  I  visited  there 
were  often  as  many  as  thirty  strangers  within  the 
travellers'  courtyard,  and  I  soon  learned  to  consider 
them  far  more  advanced  than  their  Egyptian  neigh- 
bour who  stays  within  his  village.  The  blood  of 
the  Bedouin  is  the  wanderer's  blood.  He  is  a  true 
descendant  of  Ishmael  in  that  he  claims  the  whole 
great  desert  for  his  home. 


159 


CHAPTER  VI 


EGYPTIAN  WOMEN  AT  SCHOOL 

BRITISH  statesman  said,  "  We  must  con- 


centrate our  attention  upon  the  mothers  of 


Egypt,  for  what  the  mothers  are  the 
children  will  become,  and  what  the  children  are 
the  men  become."  Therefore  in  the  mothers  is 
found  the  secret  of  the  strength  of  a  nation,  and  the 
first  great  need  of  Egypt  touches  the  domestic 
circle,  the  home  of  the  child,  the  wife,  and  the 
mother.  In  the  Ministry  of  Public  Works  in  Cairo 
recently  a  Moslem  of  the  higher  official  class  was 
heard  to  say  that  his  mother  had  never  stepped 
outside  of  her  house,  not  even  to  cross  the  street. 
It  has  not  been  uncommon  even  now  in  certain 
parts  of  Egypt  for  the  labouring  man  to  lock  up 
his  wife  and  children  before  going  to  his  work  in 
the  morning,  and  the  mud  hut  is  made  a  prison- 
house  until  his  return  at  night.  Upon  being  asked 
what  she  did  all  day,  a  Mohammedan  woman  of 


161 


162  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  better  class  replied,  "I  sit  on  that  couch  for  a 
time,  and  when  I  get  tired  I  cross  over  and  sit  on 
that  one." 

In  the  light  of  such  conditions  as  these  one 
can  better  understand  the  reports  of  the  last  census 
which  state  that  but  two  in  a  thousand  Egyptian 
women  can  read  and  write,  and  it  is  useless  to 
state  that  the  first  and  greatest  need  of  Egypt  is 
the  education  of  the  women.  As  it  is  now,  not  being 
able  to  read,  not  knowing  what  is  going  on  in  the 
outside  world,  except  as  it  filters  through  the 
gossip  of  servants  and  visitors  equally  as  ignorant, 
the  women  and  children  live  in  a  world  apart, 
having  few  interests  outside  the  realm  of  petty 
gossip  and  intrigue.  These  conditions  are  bound 
to  foster  in  the  mind  of  Egyptian  childhood  the 
inferiority  of  womanhood,  at  the  same  time  stulti- 
fying the  youthful  mind  and  growth  by  associations 
that  have  little  if  any  value  in  the  way  of  early 
education.  If  it  is  true  that  the  social  and  personal 
conceptions  of  a  child's  home  world  are  the  per- 
manent influences  not  to  be  shaken  off  in  after 
life,  the  untoward  early  surroundings  are  among 
the  first  changes  to  be  wrought  in  the  education 
of  the  New  Egypt. 

Beginnings  have  been  made,  and  some  of  them 


SCHOOLS  FOR  GIRLS  165 


very  propitiously.  "It  is  not  coming  with  a  rush 
yet,"  said  the  principal  of  a  training  college  for 
girls  in  Cairo,  but  for  that  matter  what  has  ever 
come  in  a  rush  in  any  Oriental  land  ?  Last  year 
instruction  was  given  to  22,002  girls  in  2,867 
kuttabs  (small  village  schools),  while  13  of  the 
Government  kuttabs  have  been  specially  set  apart 
for  women  students  and  now  have  an  attendance 
of  2,030  girls,  with  42  trained  women  teachers. 
In  one  of  these  schools  for  teachers  which  I  visited 
there  were  138  applications  for  13  vacancies. 

Schools  for  girls  are  also  being  founded  by  native 
initiative  through  the  inspiration  of  the  example 
of  the  Government  institutions.  A  large  institu- 
tion for  the  training  of  women  is  just  now  being 
opened  in  Alexandria  by  the  Egyptian  Government, 
and  the  appurtenances  for  modern  education  com- 
pare favourably  with  those  of  Western  schools. 
The  missionary  institutions  for  girls  conducted  by 
the  American  Mission  are  among  the  most  flourish- 
ing and  efficient  of  the  girls'  schools  of  Egypt.  Al- 
though the  majority  of  these  students  are  from 
Coptic  families,  there  is  a  growing  tendency  for 
Moslem  parents  to  send  their  daughters  to  the 
missionary  institutions,  where  at  present  about 
30  per  cent,  are  of  the  Mohammedan  faith.  Twenty 


166  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


years  ago  it  was  almost  impossible  to  find  a  Moslem 
girl  in  a  Christian  school. 

The  English  Government  struck  a  note  of  reform, 
not  educational  only,  but  social  and  national  as  well, 
when  in  1901  it  began  sending  Egyptian  girls  to 
Europe  to  be  trained  as  teachers.  The  difficulties 
confronting  the  Ministry  of  Education  were  many 
and  varied.  The  girl's  father  had  first  to  be  dealt 
with  and  convinced  that  no  attempt  would  be  made  f 
to  destroy  the  girl's  religious  convictions.  He  was 
not  at  all  certain  of  the  wisdom  of  this  very  re- 
volutionary concession  in  allowing  his  daughter  to 
leave  home  before  her  marriage.  When  the  girl 
returned  to  Egypt  and  secured  a  self-supporting 
position  as  teacher,  and  when  the  father  beheld  in 
his  daughter  not  a  perverted  Moslem  but  a  more 
devoted  member  of  the  traditional  faith,  a  long  step 
was  taken  in  the  education  of  women. 

One  of  these  fathers  expressed  his  satisfaction 
with  the  wise  and  impartial  attitude  of  the  English 
Government  when  he  said  to  Dr.  Dunlop,  who  asked 
him  concerning  the  results  of  European  education 
upon  his  daughter,  "  You  have  not  only  trained  her 
mind,  but  you  have  trained  her  heart.  She  speaks 
more  kindly  to  her  mother  in  the  home,  she  is  more 
thoughtful ;  she  is  a  better  Moslem  girl," 


EDUCATIONAL  REFORM  167 


It  is  to  the  great  credit  of  Egyptian  women  that 
of  the  entire  number  of  girls  who  have  been  sent  to 
Europe  in  their  teens  to  be  educated,  suddenly 
deprived  of  the  close  home  restrictions  and  guardian- 
ship, which  is  much  more  than  the  supervision  to 
which  the  Western  girl  is  subjected,  at  the  same 
time  subjected  to  many  temptations  in  a  foreign 
land,  no  breath  of  scandal  has  attached  to  any  of 
them. 

Teachers  tell  me  that  one  of  the  real  battles  that 
has  to  be  fought  and  conquered  is  the  intense 
conceit  of  the  girl  student.  It  cannot  be  wondered 
at  when  one  considers  that  she  takes  the  varied 
information  she  learns  within  the  schoolroom,  her 
knowledge  of  the  sciences,  of  the  world,  and  books 
to  a  home  where  perhaps  she  is  the  only  member 
of  the  family  who  can  read  the  evening  paper. 
When  she  sees  the  father  and  mother  and  the 
grandmother  gather  around  her  and  listen  with 
eagerness  and  astonishment  to  her  marvellous  tales, 
shaking  their  heads  and  perhaps  murmuring,  "  Is 
it  possible  that  this  is  my  daughter  ?"  one  can 
readily  see  why  it  is  necessary  for  the  teachers  to 
combat  constantly  this  overweening  pride. 

In  addition  to  the  three  R's  that  are  taught  in 
all  schools,  the  missionary  and  training  schools 


168  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


make  a  speciality  of  household  economy.  The 
work  of  the  house  is  done  by  the  pupils,  each  taking 
their  week's  or  month's  turn  at  a  certain  kind  of 
housework.  In  one  training  school  I  visited,  I 
saw  a  squad  of  pupils  putting  up  preserves,  another 
making  cakes.  The  rooms  and  dormitories  are 
kept  spotless  by  the  pupils  themselves,  and  in  the 
sewing  classes  they  are  taught  to  make  their  simple 
dresses,  from  the  drafting  to  the  last  stitch  of  em- 
broidery. 

The  religious  education  is  not  omitted  in  the 
Government  schools.  While  visiting  one  I  went 
into  a  room  where  there  were  perhaps  fifty  little 
girls  of  about  eleven  to  twelve  years  of  age  all 
crooning  in  a  sing-song  voice  verses  from  the  Koran. 
The  teacher  for  this  branch  of  instruction  was  an 
old  blind  woman  who  knew  the  Koran  by  heart, 
and  she  commenced  a  surah  or  chapter  and  allowed 
the  children  to  finish  it,  listening  carefully  to  the 
well-known  words,  keeping  time  with  a  motion  of 
her  head,  stopping  suddenly  at  an  unusual  word 
which  meant  to  her  a  mistake. 

I  asked  the  Sheikh  in  charge  if  the  children  were 
taught  the  prayers.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  like 
to  hear  the  prayers,  and  of  course  I  assented  in- 
stantly.   He  called  five  little  girls  to  an  inner  room 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  169 


and  asked  them  to  say  the  morning  prayer,  which 
they  did,  bowing,  and  kneeling  and  touching  then- 
heads  to  the  floor,  all  the  many  acts  of  devotion 
that  one  sees  being  performed  by  the  men  of  Egypt 
in  mosque,  shop,  street  corner,  or  field,  but  rarely 
by  the  women. 

There  is  every  indication  that  this  educational 
reform  is  sweeping  rapidly  through  the  entire 
nation.  One  cannot  pass  along  the  streets  of  Cairo 
without  being  amazed  at  the  number  of  schools  of  all 
kinds,  French,  English,  and  Italian,  that  are  estab- 
lished for  girls.  Egypt  seems  to  be  a  haven  for  the 
private-school  teacher,  and  I  am  afraid  that  many 
of  these  schools  are  not  of  the  first  quality  as  re- 
gards their  teachers,  because  as  yet  the  Egyptian 
is  no  very  great  judge  of  the  kind  of  education  he 
seeks,  nor  the  means  to  be  employed  to  obtain  it. 
But  it  all  tends  to  show  the  trend  of  thought,  and 
is  proving  that  education  is  abroad  in  the  land. 

The  men  are  desiring  educated  wives  and 
daughters.  A  boy  who  has  had  even  a  simple 
education  does  not  care  for  the  old-time  wife  of 
the  harem,  whose  little  round  of  talk  and  gossip 
soon  tires  him.  I  asked  a  young  man  who  was 
returning  to  the  country  to  marry  after  passing 
several  years  in  Cairo,  where  he  was  studying  in  the 


170         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


school  of  medicine,  what  kind  of  a  wife  he  was 
choosing.  He  said,  "If  it  were  of  my  choice,  I 
would  ask  for  a  wife  from  some  school  here,  but  my 
mother  is  choosing  her  for  me,  and  she  has  no 
education  at  all.  I  will  try  to  get  her  into  a  school 
or  have  teachers  for  her  after  we  are  married,  if  my 
mother  will  permit  it." 

Miss  Florence  Davson,  in  the  Egyptian  Daily 
Post,  gives  a  comprehensive  description  of  female 
education  in  Egypt,  as  it  existed  at  the  time  when 
she  wrote. 

"  The  recent  Congress  held  on  Education  in 
London  naturally  aroused  the  interest  of  all  dwellers 
in  Egypt  in  the  question  of  education  for  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  especially  of  that  for  the  education  of 
Egyptian  women.  There  are  now  several  hundred 
girls  and  young  women  in  Egypt  undergoing  a 
carefully  directed  course  of  study  that  varies 
according  to  their  degree  and  to  the  particular 
school  in  which  they  are  placed.  The  progress  made 
in  the  last  twelve  years  has  been  very  great,  and  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  work  is  one  of  much 
difficulty  and  delicacy.  Those  who,  from  lack  of 
knowledge,  cannot  understand  the  labour  entailed 
are  too  often  ready  to  offer  criticism.  Most  diffi- 
cult to  please,  however,  are  those  devoted  teachers 


EGYPTIAN  WOMEN  OF  THE  PAST  1?3 


of  high  attainments,  who,  in  their  anxiety  to  bring 
their  pupils  to  a  higher  standard,  expect  to  arrive 
at  a  perfect  result. 

"  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  twelve  years  ago 
there  was  hardly  an  Egyptian  lady  who  could  read. 
This  would  not  have  been  of  so  much  importance 
had  she  possessed  domestic  accomplishments  and 
known  how  to  keep  house,  to  direct  the  cooking, 
the  laundry,  and  to  work  cleverly  with  her  hands. 
But  to  be  a  capable  housewife  was  not  within  the 
scope  of  her  ambition  or  capabilities.  ...  In  the 
case  of  a  lady  all  actual  work  was  carried  out  by 
servants.  The  long  hours  of  harem  solitude  and 
seclusion  hung  heavily  ;  and  idleness  brings  mischief 
at  its  heels,  and  succeeding  empty  days  with  their 
slight  complement  of  tittle-tattle,  lazily  given 
orders,  and  attention  to  finery,  could  but  result  in 
deterioration,  bodily  and  mental.  What  could  a 
girl  or  woman  do  who  had  neither  studies  nor  book 
to  read,  needlework  nor  liberty  to  take  exercise  ? 

"  She  could  eat  sweets,  she  could  visit  her  friends, 
she  kept  the  house  after  the  slack,  disorderly  fashion 
of  her  mother  and  grandmother,  she  visited  and 
gossiped  with  her  woman  friends.  She  listened  to 
interminable  romances  from  the  lips  of  slaves, 
tales  which  too  often  stimulated  the  imagination 
8 


174         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


in  the  worst  manner,  and  possibly  paved  the  way 
to  deceit  and  intrigue.  Her  standing  in  the  eyes 
of  men  was  low  and  devoid  of  respect.  Her  power, 
if  any,  was  the  material  influence  gained  by  beauty  or 
the  underhand  craft  resulting  from  adroit  flatterers. 

"  When  the  idea  of  educating  women  was  first 
brought  before  the  Egyptians,  they  looked  on  the 
project  with  doubt  and  distrust.  Education  would 
naturally  mean  liberty.  The  girl  would  learn  to 
read,  and  their  books  would  tell  them  of  the  customs 
of  the  women  of  other  countries.  They  would  be 
discontented  with  their  seclusion  and  break  their 
bonds.  Liberty  would  mean  free  intercourse  with 
the  other  sex.  That  their  daughters  should  talk  and 
walk  with  men  like  the  women  of  other  lands  was 
a  thing  not  to  be  thought  of. 

"  A  course  which  ran  counter  to  deeply  rooted 
prejudices  of  fathers  and  brothers  was  necessarily 
very  difficult  to  put  in  hand.  And  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  there  is  certain  wisdom  in  many 
national  habits  ;  they  have  not  grown  rapidly  or 
slightly.  To  a  great  extent  they  are  often  a  safe- 
guard against  grave  national  faults.  The  fathers 
of  Egypt  who  distrusted  the  educational  project 
were  justified  in  fearing  too  much  liberty  for  their 
daughters.    That,  if  it  comes,  must  come  gradually. 


OPPOSITION  TO  REFORMS  177 


And  with  it  too  there  must  be  a  change  in  the  young 
men  of  the  land.  There  was  much,  however,  that 
the  girls  could  be  taught  for  their  mental,  moral, 
and  physical  benefit,  even  if  the  harem  existence 
were  to  continue  interminably  unbroken. 

"  Schools  were  opened  in  spite  of  the  difficulties. 
Some  pupils  were  boarders,  others  came  by  the  day. 
A  course  of  study  was  mapped  out,  including  history, 
geography,  arithmetic,  geometry,  brushwork,  and 
needlework.  The  girls  took  kindly  to  school  life, 
which  offered  a  delightful  change  after  the  monotony 
of  home.  The  regular  existence  and  constant  work 
soon  showed  its  good  effect  on  both  mind  and  body. 
Naturally  matters  did  not  progress  as  in  an  English 
school,  where  the  girls  have  been  compelled  to  learn 
for  generations.  But  the  intelligent,  contented  girls 
who  had  learned  to  think,  to  judge,  to  act  reason- 
ably soon  showed  that  the  experiment  was  a  success. 

"  Implicit  obedience  to  those  above  them  is  in- 
culcated at  all  the  schools,  for  no  Egyptian  girl 
can  have  a  happy  home-life  unless  she  is  prepared 
to  give  perfect  submission  to  her  husband  or  father. 
Perhaps  as  time  goes  on  and  the  people  of  Egypt 
appreciate  the  mental  development  of  their  women- 
folk, they  will  allow  them  to  exercise  their  judg- 
ment, but  submit  to  their  husbands.    Even  so,  the 


178  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 

educated  girl  is  now  able  to  take  up  many  useful 
household  affairs,  to  beautify  her  rooms  with  ex- 
quisite work,  to  attend  to  the  care  of  her  health 
and  that  of  her  dependents.  This  is  a  great  advance 
from  the  days  when  outside  finery  was  the  only 
thing  appreciated." 

Still,  as  Miss  Davson  says,  it  is  hard  to  combat 
the  ignorance  and  love  of  custom  of  the  old-time 
conservative  Egyptian,  but  the  next  generation  of 
Egyptian  women,  the  bright-faced  girls  one  sees 
in  the  schoolroom  to-day,  will  have  a  great  influence 
upon  the  life  and  thought  of  the  Egypt  of  to-morrow. 
The  old-time  picture  of  the  Oriental  woman  spend- 
ing her  hours  upon  divans,  eating  sweetmeats  and 
indulging  in  petty  and  degrading  gossip  with  women 
as  ignorant  as  herself,  will  be  changed.  The  new 
woman  of  Egypt  will  be  a  companion  rather  than 
a  slave  or  toy  of  her  husband.  Marriage  will  ad- 
vance from  the  stage  of  a  paltry  trade  in  bodies  to 
something  like  real  union,  involving  respect  towards 
the  woman  by  both  fathers  and  sons,  while  in  a 
new  pride  of  relationship  the  woman  herself  will  be 
discovered. 

Within  a  few  years  it  will  be  a  brave  man  who 
would  dare  to  speak  of  his  wife  as  did  a  Moslem  once 
when  complimented  about  the  cure  of  the  eyes  of 


THE  NEW  WOMAN 


179 


his  wife,  who  had  been  successfully  operated  upon 
for  cataract.  He  said,  in  regard  to  the  trouble 
and  expense  he  had  taken,  "It  is  a  worthy  action 
that  she  should  be  enabled  to  look  upon  her  children. 
It  counts  with  God.  To  see  a  blind  dog  who  cannot 
look  upon  her  puppies  is  a  painful  sight.  How  much 
more  a  human  being  !  For  after  all,  a  woman  is 
a  human  being." 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  EGYPTIAN  HAREM 

A MOSLEM  home  is  divided  into  two  distinct 
apartments,  the  Selam-lik  or  men's  apart- 
ments, and  the  Harem-lik,  the  rooms  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  women  and  children.  All 
Egyptian  women  of  respectability  are  confined 
strictly  within  their  quarters,  and  the  higher  the 
social  standing,  the  more  strict  is  the  seclusion  of 
the  women.  This  seclusion  was  unknown  in  the 
first  Islamic  era,  the  time  when  Islam  ran  in  its 
natural  course  and  the  customs  of  the  Arabs  were 
at  their  purest,  not  yet  mixed  with  those  of  the 
natives  of  the  countries  invaded  later. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  "  Omayah"  dynasty, 
when  the  Empire  began  to  spread  and  when  Arabs 
mixed  with  the  peoples  of  other  countries  by  com- 
merce and  marriage,  they  added  the  customs  of  the 
conquered  countries  to  their  own.  One  of  these 
was  the  seclusion  of  the  women,  one  which  did 

180 


NATIVE  WOMEN   SELLING  FRUIT. 

181 


THE  HISTORY  OF  SECLUSION  183 


not  mean  imprisonment.  It  arose  out  of  the  old- 
time  border  warfare,  when  the  different  tribes  were 
continually  making  raids  against  each  other.  When 
one  of  these  warring  parties  came  down  upon  the 
village  of  its  enemies,  the  first  thing  they  did  was 
to  carry  off  the  women,  children,  and  cattle.  The 
only  means  of  protection  being  to  put  the  helpless, 
non-fighting  population  in  the  inner  rooms  of  the 
houses  where  they  could  be  defended,  it  naturally 
happened  that  the  higher  the  rank  of  the  family 
the  more  isolated  were  its  females. 

Seclusion,  thus  beginning  gradually,  was  retained 
and  became  a  mark  of  caste,  of  superiority  from  a 
social  standpoint,  and  the  conquering  Arabs  adopted 
it.  An  Armenian  scholar,  speaking  of  the  seclusion 
of  all  Eastern  women,  said  that  the  European  woman 
owed  her  freedom  to  the  Germans  who  swept  down 
over  Europe  with  their  conquering  armies  and  left 
in  their  wake  their  customs  of  woman's  equality 
with  man. 

In  Egypt  one  sees  only  the  working-class  woman 
in  the  street ;  even  the  higher  labouring  classes 
are  not  seen  in  public.  These  women  who  wander 
about  unveiled  are  neither  envied  by  the  secluded, 
nor  are  they  themselves  satisfied  with  their  freedom, 
believing  that  it  is  only  poverty  and  need  that 


184  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


compel  them  to  leave  the  seclusion  of  their  homes. 
If  by  chance  they  become  rich  they  immediately 
seclude  themselves  and  are  proud  of  this  mark  of 
their  higher  social  position. 

The  aristocracy  can  be  seen  driving  in  the  after- 
noon within  closed  broughams,  but  even  that  is 
a  new  departure.  However,  the  most  progressive 
official  would  hardly  dare  to  drive  up  the  fashionable 
promenade  with  his  wife  seated  beside  him.  It  is 
also  not  common  to  see  a  lady  of  standing  shopping 
in  the  bazaars.  The  new  generation  are  trying  to 
break  down  this  extreme  seclusion,  but  every  step 
forward  is  barred  by  some  ancient  ordinance,  claim- 
ing divine  origin  or  the  supreme  authority  of  tra- 
dition. The  older  generation  cannot  understand 
this  desire  of  new  feminine  Egypt  to  come  into  the 
outside  world.  Many  of  them,  these  conservative 
Egyptian  ladies,  who  seem  almost  myths  so  little  is 
known  about  them,  never  leave  their  homes  after 
coming  to  them  as  brides.  One  old  lady  of  my  ac- 
quaintance made  the  boast  that  she  had  not  crossed 
the  threshold  of  her  house  for  forty  years. 

Another  woman  who  lives  in  busy  Cairo  practi- 
cally never  leaves  her  house  except  to  make  rare 
visits  to  her  daughter,  although  her  husband  is  most 
advanced,  takes  yearly  trips  to  Europe,  and  has 


THE  OLD  AND  NEW  GENERATION  185 


repeatedly  begged  her  to  accompany  him ;  she 
absolutely  refuses  the  invitation.  She  says,  "  I 
will  leave  that  to  my  daughter,  who  asks  nothing 
better  than  the  chance  to  show  her  pretty  face.  But 
to  me  it  would  mean  shame  and  a  breach  of  all 
that  I  have  been  taught  is  womanly  and  modest, 
to  go  unveiled  before  strange  men.  A  man  has  never 
seen  me  except  my  husband  since  I  was  a  tiny  girl." 

It  is  this  older,  conservative  woman  who  makes 
rigid  the  seclusion  of  the  harem.  It  is  she  who 
sets  the  standard  of  liberty  enjoyed  by  her  daughters- 
in-law,  and  she  often  makes  the  doors  of  the  harem 
a  prison  gateway. 

Seclusion  has  been  bred  for  centuries  in  the  heart, 
habits,  and  life  of  the  Egyptian  woman,  and  she  feels 
it  no  hardship.  She  believes  it  the  desire  of  her 
husband  to  protect  her,  and  if  allowed  unusual 
liberty  would  think  herself  unloved  and  neglected. 
The  highest  term  that  can  be  applied  to  a  husband's 
love  for  his  wife  is  1 1  He  will  not  even  permit  the  sun 
to  look  upon  her." 

Whether  it  is  because  of  her  belief  that  her  value 
rises  in  proportion  to  her  seclusion  I  do  not  know, 
but  it  is  the  women  who  are  frequently  more  con- 
servative than  the  men  in  this  respect.  I  know  a 
Sheikh  who  lived  many  years  in  England  with  his 


186 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


family,  and  while  there  his  wife  kept  the  harem 
as  strictly  as  she  would  in  Egypt.  She  would  not 
even  go  for  a  carriage  drive  as  the  veil  attracted 
attention,  and  she  could  not  bring  herself  to  go  witk 
out  the  covering  for  her  face.  She  said  to  me,  "  I 
tried  it  once,  and  I  felt  as  you  would  if  you  went 
along  the  street  without  a  skirt.    I  felt  immodest." 

While  calling  upon  this  family  I  dressed  in 
Egyptian  costume  and  went  into  the  courtyard, 
where  my  husband  took  my  picture.  I  then  asked 
them  to  have  their  pictures  taken.  They  thought 
I  meant  that  my  husband  would  act  as  photographer, 
and  they  were  horrified.  One  young  woman 
flushed  as  rosy  red  as  if  an  insulting  proposal  had 
been  made  to  her,  but  when  I  explained  that  I 
would  take  it  myself  and  that  my  husband  would 
remain  in  the  selam-lik,  they  were  delighted  and 
hurried  off  to  their  rooms  to  put  on  their  pretty 
gowns.  They  came  arrayed  as  Solomon  in  all  his 
glory.  The  gowns  were  practically  all  alike  in  re- 
gard to  fashion,  a  form  of  empire  gown,  but  the 
goods  were  magnificent :  stiff  brocades  with  great 
figures  in  gold  or  silver ;  gorgeous  silks  and  satins 
that  one  only  sees  in  pictures,  but  never  imagines 
as  dresses.  They  were  all  very  pretty  women,  and 
these  gorgeous  colours  that  would  seem  out  of  place 


THE  INMATES  OF  THE  HAREM  187 


on  the  faded  foreign  lady  only  accentuated  their 
dark  beauty. 

In  regard  to  the  seclusion  and  the  veiling  of  the 
women,  the  Koran  has  prescribed  very  exact  laws. 
After  a  woman  has  passed  the  age  of  childhood  she 
may  never  allow  a  man  to  look  at  her  except  the 
immediate  relatives  of  her  family,  such  as  brother, 
father,  or  uncle.  All  the  male  members  of  her 
husband's  family  are  forbidden  to  look  upon  her. 
The  women  whom  a  man  may  see  unveiled  are 
restricted  to  those  he  may  not  marry  on  account 
of  their  being  within  a  certain  relationship  proxi- 
mity, as  mother,  sister,  aunt,  foster-mother,  or 
slaves. 

Even  the  men  servants  are  barred  from  seeing 
the  inmates  of  the  harem.  All  orders  to  the  male 
domestics  are  given  through  women  servants,  if 
the  husband  does  not  attend  to  that  part  of  the 
household  himself.  A  woman  told  me  she  had 
employed  a  cook  for  fourteen  years  and  he  had 
never  seen  her.  If  Potiphar's  wife  had  been  a 
modern  Egyptian  woman,  the  story  of  the  tempta- 
tion of  Joseph  would  never  have  been  told,  as  he 
would  never  have  had  the  opportunity  of  entering 
the  apartments  of  his  mistress. 

The  Eastern  idea  of  the  sacredness  of  the  women's 


188  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


quarter  is  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  entrance 
into  the  tombs  of  certain  females  is  denied  to  men 
— for  instance  the  tombs  of  the  Prophet's  wives  and 
other  women  of  his  family  in  El  Medina,  into  which 
women  are  admitted,  but  from  which  men  are 
barred.  It  is  even  carried  to  the  grave,  as  men  and 
women  are  never  buried  in  the  same  vault  unless 
separated  by  a  wall. 

Yet  Egyptian  women  do  not  consider  themselves 
prisoners,  nor  are  they  treated  as  such.  They  are 
at  liberty  to  pay  visits  to  their  women  friends,  and 
they  are  constantly  receiving  visits  from  their 
relatives  and  the  wives  of  their  husband's  friends 
and  associates.  The  visits  are  most  joyous,  often 
gayer  than  they  would  be  in  the  restricted  presence 
of  men. 

A  woman  who  goes  to  see  her  neighbour  does  not 
make  an  afternoon  call,  but  she  goes  for  the  day  or 
the  afternoon.  She  removes  the  harborah  which 
takes  the  place  of  hat  and  wrap,  quite  likely  slips 
off  the  black  street  skirt  and  stands  arrayed  in  a 
gorgeous  house  dress.  Then  they  chat  and  gossip 
and  drink  cooling  drinks  and  small  cups  of  black 
coffee  in  which  a  bit  of  ambergris  or  rose  water  has 
been  dropped,  eat  sweets,  talk  dress  and  children,  sit 
around  the  large  brass  tray  on  which  dinner  is 


i  go 


Family  meals  191 

served,  and  eat  the  deliriously  cooked  mutton  or 
chicken,  and  the  innumerable  dishes  of  sweets  and 
vegetables. 

They  do  not  hurry  over  their  meals,  as,  judging 
from  appearances,  they  are  epicurean;  indeed,  to 
eat  and  to  drink  seems  to  be  the  most  enjoyable 
pastime  of  all  Egyptians.  It  has  its  effect,  as 
the  sedentary  life,  combined  with  the  enormous 
amount  of  liquid  and  sweetened  foods,  tends  to  make 
the  Egyptian  woman  of  the  harem  enormously 
stout  after  she  has  passed  the  first  flush  of  youth. 
This  is  not  a  trial  to  her  as  it  might  be  to  her  Western 
sister,  as  thin  women  are  not  considered  beautiful, 
and  instead  of  indulging  in  medicines  and  exercise 
to  reduce  the  over-abundant  flesh,  the  Egyptian 
woman  buys  drugs  for  the  opposite  purpose. 

I  visited  one  time  at  the  country  estate  of  an 
Egyptian.  I  lived  in  the  harem  while  my  husband 
remained  in  the  men's  quarters.  The  seclusion 
was  very  strict,  my  hostess  never  having  seen  her 
brother-in-law,  who  lived  in  the  same  house,  except 
as  he  passed  along  the  road  and  she  saw  him  from 
the  window.  We  were  calling  on  his  wife,  and  I 
was  shown  a  picture  of  her  husband.  While  I  was 
regarding  it  my  hostess  looked  at  it  as  curiously 
as  one  would  look  at  the  picture  of  a  stranger.  I 


192 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


said,  "  But  surely  you  do  not  have  to  study  the 
picture  of  your  husband's  brother  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  his  features  ?  "  She  said,  "  I  have 
no  idea  what  he  looks  like  any  more  than  you  have. 
The  road  is  so  far  away  from  my  window  that  I 
would  have  to  study  him  with  an  opera  glass,  and 
even  you  will  admit  that  that  would  be  more  than 
curiosity." 

Her  father-in-law  called  once  a  year,  and  she 
entered  the  room  closely  veiled  and  wished  him 
the  joys  of  the  coming  year,  and  without  raising 
her  eyes  to  his  face  left  the  room.  Yet  she  said 
that  the  harem  was  not  observed  as  strictly  on  their 
country  estate  as  in  their  town  house.  She  was 
allowed  to  have  the  men  servants  around  her  as 
they  were  all  Soudanese,  old  retainers  on  the  estate, 
their  fathers  and  fathers'  fathers  having  been  in  the 
same  position. 

The  women  of  the  harem  are  much  more  familiar 
with  the  servants  than  we  of  Western  countries. 
The  maids  come  in  and  out  of  the  room  freely, 
never  knocking,  and  they  take  part  in  the  conversa- 
tion. This  familiarity  to  servants  is  found  in  all 
Eastern  countries  where  the  woman  lives  a  re- 
stricted life.  This  may  arise  from  the  loneliness 
of  the  women's  lives  who  are  often  confined  to 


SERVANTS  AND  THE  HAREM  190 


the  people  within  their  apartments  for  amusement 
and  interest.  In  China  the  personal  attendant  of 
the  lady  is  much  more  than  maid,  she  is  friend  and 
adviser  as  well.  The  guests  in  an  Egyptian  house- 
hold talk  quite  freely  with  the  servants  who  wait 
upon  them,  and  the  servants  seem  to  have  no  feel- 
ing that  they  are  of  a  lower  scale.  It  may  come  in 
part  from  the  teaching  of  Mohammed,  who  said  that 
all,  poor  and  rich  alike,  who  called  upon  the  name  of 
Allah  and  believed  that  Mohammed  was  his  apostle, 
were  brothers.    He  levelled  all  class  distinctions. 

While  in  the  country  my  hostess  and  I  went  out 
a  great  deal  visiting  her  husband's  relatives,  but 
always  accompanied  by  a  servant,  who  went  ahead 
to  see  that  no  masculinity  was  abroad.  While  we 
were  in  a  house,  the  owner  never  came  near  the 
women's  apartments.  One  day  we  were  crossing 
the  courtyard  in  front  of  the  selam-lik,  thinking 
all  the  men  had  gone  for  a  ride  ;  as  we  were  in  front 
of  the  door  it  opened  and  my  husband  came  out. 
Of  course  he  immediately  turned  and  pretended  he 
had  not  seen  his  Egyptian  hostess.  She  flushed 
and  looked  around  in  a  very  embarrassed  manner 
to  see  if  any  one  had  noted  the  dreadful  breach 
of  modesty.  I  think  the  first  thought  was,  "  I  hope 
my  husband  did  not  see  me!" 


194         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


There  is  a  story  told  in  one  of  the  romances  of 
Egypt  that  shows  to  what  an  extent  the  idea  of  the 
veiling  of  the  women  is  carried.  Once  upon  a  time 
a  woman  was  married  to  a  man  whom  she  disliked 
intensely,  and  she  planned  his  death,  and  all  would 
have  been  carried  out  according  to  her  wishes  if 
her  plans  had  not  been  overheard  by  a  relative, 
who  surrounded  the  garden  where  the  deed  was  to 
be  committed  and  caught  the  woman  and  her 
assistant  practically  in  the  act.  It  was  plain  to 
the  family  that  she  had  attempted  the  life  of  her 
husband,  but  he  still  loved  her  and  would  not  agree 
to  her  death,  until  it  was  shown  him  that  at  least 
twelve  persons  had  seen  her  unveiled,  therefore 
it  was  plainly  to  be  seen  there  was  no  other  alter- 
native for  her  except  death. 

This  fear  of  men  seeing  them  was  exemplified 
strongly  to  me  while  visiting  at  this  country  place. 
We  went  to  call  on  some  of  the  numerous  relatives 
of  the  husband  of  my  hostess  about  an  eighth  of 
a  mile  from  her  home.  All  the  women  of  the 
different  households  came  in  and  we  had  a  most 
charming  visit.  After  fruit  and  coffee  were  served, 
I  was  rather  at  a  loss  for  a  subject  of  conversation, 
so  spoke  of  the  jewellery  with  which  they  were 
all   literally    covered  :    great  heavy  chains  and 


THE  FEAR  OF  STRANGE  MEN  195 


necklaces  of  gold  coins  and  balls  of  gold,  all  most 
fitting  to  their  style  of  beauty.  They  insisted  on 
arraying  me  in  their  finery,  and  when  I  had  the 
chains  around  my  neck  and  the  bracelets  on  my  arms, 
they  decided  the  only  proper  thing  to  do  was  for  me 
to  show  myself  to  my  husband.  All  the  women — 
there  must  have  been  ten  or  twelve  of  them — started 
to  escort  us  to  our  boat,  but  at  a  turn  of  the  path 
leading  to  the  canal  a  servant  appeared  and  an- 
nounced that  the  husband  of  my  hostess  was  coming 
to  return  with  us. 

What  a  scattering  of  women  !  They  seized  their 
babies  and  simply  flew  for  the  house.  A  couple 
were  in  the  pathway  up  which  the  man  was  coming 
and  they  could  not  get  away,  so  they  sat  down 
suddenly,  their  backs  to  the  path,  their  faces  against 
the  wall,  and  an  old  Soudanese  servant  pulled  her 
shawl  from  around  her  and  covered  them  with  it. 
The  man  marched  by  them  with  a  slightly  con- 
temptuous "  La-la,"  paying  no  attention  to  them, 
nor  did  he  turn  and  try  to  get  away  from  them. 
He  plainly  showed  that  he  considered  it  their  busi- 
ness to  get  away  from  him,  not  his  to  flee  from  them. 

It  all  seemed  ridiculous  to  me,  as  this  man  was 
related  to  nearly  all  of  them,  but  it  was  inbred  in 
these  women.  It  was  not  affectation  at  all,  they 
9 


196  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


were  shocked  and  frightened.  The  sister-in-law, 
who  lived  in  the  same  house,  seriously  considered 
the  propriety  of  returning  with  us  on  the  same 
boat,  but  it  was  finally  decided  that  she  might  go 
as  she  was  older  than  the  man.  She  sat  in  the 
farther  corner  of  the  boat  with  her  face  closely 
covered,  and  never  spoke,  nor  looked  in  our  direc- 
tion. When  the  house  was  reached  she  silently 
went  into  her  apartments  without  even  a  "  Good 
night !  " 

It  seemed  a  foolish  custom  to  us,  this  segrega- 
tion of  the  women.  Our  visit  could  have  been  so 
much  more  enjoyable  if  the  four  of  us  could  have 
been  together  and  enjoyed  the  drives  and  the 
strolls  in  the  garden.  One  evening  the  wife  and  I 
dined  on  a  boat  on  the  canal,  the  moon  shining 
through  the  palm-trees  outlined  against  the  won- 
derful sky  of  Egypt.  We  dined  alone,  she  dressed  in 
a  most  elaborate  dress  and  with  all  her  jewels,  and 
our  husbands  dined  in  the  selam-lik.  It  only 
needed  a  little  masculine  society  to  make  it  quite 
ideal,  at  least  for  a  Western  woman. 

It  seems  to  be  a  man's  world  entirely.  A  woman 
while  at  home  is  under  the  authority  of  her  father, 
or,  if  he  is  dead,  her  eldest  brother.  When  she 
marries  she  belongs  to  her  husband  body  and  soul. 


FAMILY  AUTHORITY  197 


He  has  supreme  control  of  his  harem.  Neither  law 
nor  public  opinion  can  touch  him  there.  If  some 
one  calls  on  him  for  either  social  or  business  reasons, 
the  servant's  announcement  that  the  master  is  in 
the  harem  is  sufficient  to  cause  him  to  leave  or 
to  sit  patiently  until  it  is  the  pleasure  of  his  host 
to  appear.  He  would  never  think  of  sending  for 
him.  Another  thing  he  would  never  do — that  is, 
ask  after  any  woman  within  the  harem  of  another 
man.  That  would  be  an  unpardonable  breach  of 
etiquette. 

I  noticed  one  thing  that  the  harem  life  does  to 
the  woman.  She  dresses  for  her  husband,  she  lives 
entirely  for  him.  She  puts  on  elaborate  gowns 
and  jewels,  knowing  no  one  will  see  her  but  her 
husband.  She  flirts  with  him  and  talks  to  him, 
and  waits  upon  him,  and  is  always  "  nice,"  as  her 
happiness  depends  entirely  upon  his  kindness  to 
her  ;  there  are  no  little  scenes,  no  poutings,  no 
bickerings  or  fault-findings.  From  the  moment 
her  husband  enters  the  door  of  the  harem,  a  change 
comes  over  the  woman,  and  her  whole  thought  and 
attention  are  given  to  him.  She  evidently  realizes 
the  lightness  of  the  marriage  tie,  that  she  might 
be  divorced,  or,  what  is  worse,  another  woman 
might  be  "  put  over  "  her,  as  they  say.    She  makes 


198         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


it  her  business  to  try  to  keep  his  love  by  every 
little  art  known  to  women. 

Yet  in  this  world  where  the  male  reigns  supreme, 
it  seems  to  be  the  woman  who  is  the  preserver  of 
the  harem.  Perhaps  it  is  because  the  women  of 
all  classes  and  countries  suffer  from  lack  of  facility 
in  adapting  themselves  to  new  conditions.  She  is 
often  as  fixed  as  a  star  in  its  orbit.  It  is  she  and 
not  so  much  the  man  of  Egypt  who  seems  to  stand 
an  immovable  mountain  in  the  path  of  freedom 
for  women.  In  this  course  she  is  only  following 
her  nature.  An  instinct  more  powerful  than  logic 
seems  to  tell  her  that  she  must  preserve  the  thing 
she  knows,  the  centre  for  which  she  is  responsible, 
the  place  where  the  child  is  born  and  reared,  where 
her  mate  retreats  when  he  leaves  the  outside  world. 
She  does  not  reason.  Change  she  fears.  She  sees 
in  the  new  ideas  that  her  daughter  brings  from 
school  only  disturbers  of  her  life's  ideals. 

Yet  the  new  thoughts  are  gathering  about  her 
retreat,  beating  at  her  doors,  creeping  in  at  the 
closely  shuttered  windows,  even  winning  her  hus- 
band and  her  children  from  her  arms.  The  en- 
closing walls  and  the  jealously  guarded  doors  of 
the  harem  are  becoming  impotent.  While  she 
stands  an  implacable  foe  of  progress,  a  guardian  of 


FOES  OF  PROGRESS  199 


what  to  her  seems  womanhood  and  modesty,  the 
Egyptian  world  is  moving  on,  feeling  the  impulse 
of  a  larger  life,  broadening  its  outlook  and  clothing 
itself  in  new  expressions.  But  the  older  conserva- 
tive woman  of  Egypt  feels  that  she  cannot  keep  up 
with  the  newer  generation,  and  it  is  quite  under- 
stood that,  seeing  herself  left  behind  with  her  dead 
gods,  she  should  cry  out  against  the  change,  which 
is  slowly  but  surely  coming  to  Egyptian  women 
with  the  advent  of  education  and  knowledge  of  the 
outside  world. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


MARRIAGE 

u  'W  THAT  is  the  predominate  desire  of  the 
Y  Y  woman  of  Egypt  ?  "  was  the  question  I 
presented  to  an  educated  Egyptian 
woman.  "  The  predominate  desire  of  an  Egyptian 
woman,"  she  said,  "  is  marriage."  After  studying 
the  question  from  different  angles,  I  should  be  in- 
clined to  add  to  this  central  objective  that  of  being 
the  mother  of  sons,  since  in  Egypt,  as  in  all  Oriental 
countries,  a  woman  is  without  honour  until  she 
bears  sons  to  her  lord. 

In  visiting  the  girls'  schools  of  Egypt  I  asked 
repeatedly,  "  Are  these  girls  being  trained  for  a 
profession  ?  "  The  answer  invariably  was,  "  No, 
they  will  marry  !  "  Indeed,  it  is  certain  disgrace 
for  an  Egyptian  woman  to  look  forward  to  a  means 
of  support  other  than  that  attendant  upon  mar- 
riage. 

The  Minister  of  Education  told  me  it  is  impossible 
200 


THE  DESIRE  OF  EGYPTIAN  WOMEN  201 

to  keep  native  women  teachers  for  more  than  two 
or  three  years  after  their  graduation  ;  and  this  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  they  receive  exceptionally 
good  salaries,  are  provided  with  comfortable  homes 
within  the  school  buildings,  and  possess  much 
greater  freedom  than  they  ever  could  attain  within 
the  walls  of  the  harem.  But  here  again  the  pres- 
sure of  traditional  custom  prevails,  and  it  is  only 
a  question  of  time,  when  the  women,  however 
efficient  they  may  have  become  in  earning  their 
livelihood,  will  exchange  the  comfort  and  liberty  of 
the  independent  life  for  the  unknown  and  pre- 
carious chance  for  happiness  as  the  wife  of  a  Moslem. 

The  woman's  life  in  this  country  begins  with  her 
betrothal.  Previously  she  is  considered  a  child. 
She  passes  abruptly  from  childhood  to  womanhood, 
deprived  of  delightful  girlhood  years  with  all  their 
gifts  of  camaraderie  with  her  brother  and  his 
friends,  school  days,  and  the  joyous  care-free  days 
that  are  the  heritage  of  the  girl  in  Western  lands. 
Between  the  ages  of  ten  and  fifteen  years  the 
Egyptian  girl  is  betrothed,  after  which  she  is  con- 
fined strictly  within  the  harem,  never  allowed  out 
except  upon  rare  occasions,  and  then  closely  veiled 
and  accompanied  by  an  older  woman. 

Child  marriages  continue  among  the  lower  classes. 


202  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


and  it  is  a  great  evil,  but  not  carried  to  such  an 
extent  as  it  is  in  India.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find 
child  wives  of  ten  years  of  age,  but  thirteen  to 
fifteen  is  the  average  age  for  marriage  now,  while 
the  upper  classes  of  society  are  waiting  still  longer 
before  the  betrothal  of  their  daughters.  The 
Khedive  has  set  the  example  for  later  marriages  in 
the  recent  betrothal  of  his  daughter,  who  is  eighteen 
years  old.  That  it  will  be  years  before  this  custom 
of  later  marriages  so  vital  to  the  home  life  of  the 
Egyptians  will  be  general  in  the  smaller  towns,  was 
proved  to  me  as  I  visited  certain  towns  in  the  Upper 
Nile  country. 

As  I  was  calling  at  an  Egyptian  home  in  Assiut 
one  day,  a  small  girl  came  running  into  the  room, 
then,  seeing  strangers,  shyly  departed.  I  said  to 
my  hostess,  "  Is  that  your  little  girl  ?  "  She  said, 
"  Oh,  no,  that  is  my  daughter-in-law."  I  said, 
"  Is  she  not  very  young  ?  "  She  replied  in  a 
matter-of-fact  way,  "  No,  she  is  past  ten."  I  asked 
the  age  of  the  husband,  and  was  told  that  he  was 
nineteen.  I  said  nothing  more,  as  I  saw  the  cir- 
cumstance did  not  appear  to  her  unusual. 

As  girlhood  is  absent  in  Egypt,  so  likewise  is 
courtship.  The  Oriental  theory  is  that  love  comes 
after  marriage,  and  that  it  can  be  kept  from  prema- 


CHILD-MARRIAGE  205 


ture  development  by  the  complete  separation  of  the 
sexes.  Betrothal  is  arranged  by  the  parents  or 
some  relative  or  friends.  Modern  Egyptians  are 
still  following  the  example  set  by  Abraham,  who 
sent  a  messenger  to  his  country  to  seek  a  wife  for 
his  son  Isaac.  Indeed,  it  is  considered  a  decided 
breach  of  etiquette  for  either  of  the  interested  pair 
to  see  each  other  previous  to  marriage.  It  is 
allowable,  however,  for  the  prospective  bride  to  see 
a  photograph  of  her  future  husband  and  to  hear 
exaggerated  accounts  of  him  from  the  matchmaker 
or  the  contracting  parents. 

But  in  Egypt,  as  in  Western  lands,  girls  will  be 
girls,  and  woman's  curiosity  is  proverbial,  and  not 
even  closely  shuttered  windows  are  sufficient  bar- 
riers to  preclude  shy  glimpses  of  her  coming  lord 
and  master.  One  Egyptian  woman  told  me  how 
she  sat  for  hours  behind  the  moushrabeah  over- 
looking the  street  along  which  she  was  told  her 
fiance  would  walk,  risking  the  reprimand  she  knew 
she  would  receive  if  her  conservative  mother  should 
discover  her  thus  trampling  in  the  dust  the  precious 
jewel  of  maidenly  modesty. 

After  the  betrothal,  however,  the  girl  issues 
into  a  new  realm  of  importance,  and  gifts  are  the 
order  of  the  hour.    Fiances  send  presents  to  their 


206  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 

brides-to-be,  varying  in  costliness  according  to 
the  material  circumstances  of  the  man.  No  pre- 
scribed rule  governs  the  presentation  of  these  gifts, 
the  kinds  and  number  of  which  vary  according 
to  different  localities.  In  the  city  of  Cairo, 
for  example,  subsequent  to  the  betrothal,  the 
fiance  first  sends  a  piece  of  jewellery  and  certain 
silk  materials  for  dresses,  frequently  adding  hand- 
kerchiefs, stockings,  shoes,  etc.  After  a  certain 
time  has  elapsed  he  follows  his  first  gift  by  sending 
to  his  betrothed  one  or  two  donkey-carts  filled 
with  baskets  of  fruit  and  sweets.  At  a  still  later 
date  the  fiance  demonstrates  his  generosity  by 
sending  to  his  prospective  bride  a  cart  loaded  with 
farm  produce,  including  hens,  turkeys,  geese,  and 
butter,  often  varying  the  selection  of  eatables  by 
transferring  to  his  loved  one  an  enormous  basket  of 
fish. 

Upon  witnessing  the  arrival  of  carts  loaded  with 
such  practical  and  eatable  produce,  one  could 
almost  imagine  that  he  was  in  the  land  of  the 
pristine  donation  party,  and  one  sees  in  imagina- 
tion the  grateful  clergyman  and  his  family  at  the 
doorway  welcoming  with  joy  unspeakable  the 
indispensable  parochial  manna.  But  the  joys 
of  these  old-time  parsons  never  exceeded  those 


WEDDING  PRESENTS  207 


of  the  Egyptian  girl  who,  with  fluttering  heart, 
sees  such  cartloads  of  bulky  evidences  of  affection 
arriving  at  her  father's  door,  and  knows  that  every 
closely  shuttered  window  is  hiding  a  face,  and  that 
every  eye  has  counted  carefully  both  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  these  pre-nuptial  tokens. 

The  woman  in  turn  presents  her  betrothed  upon 
her  wedding-night  with  such  marks  of  affection 
as  are  represented  by  a  gold  cigarette-box  or  a  fine 
piece  of  masculine  jewellery.  She  also  gives  him, 
against  the  time  of  need,  one  or  more  sleeping- 
suits,  a  night  head-dress  resembling  very  much  the 
small  cap  that  old  gentlemen  in  Western  lands, 
sans  "  hair,"  have  with  them  to  protect  their 
heads  from  draughts,  and  also  a  pair  of  slippers  of 
silk  or  velvet.  Certain  wealthy  brides  often  give 
linen  underclothing  and  frequently  an  elaborate 
outer  costume. 

The  luxuriousness  of  this  exchange  of  gifts 
among  the  people  of  wealth  is  often  most  lavish. 
One  Egyptian  woman  of  my  acquaintance  num- 
bered among  her  betrothal  presents  a  rich  dressing- 
table  with  silk  hangings  and  toilet-set  of  ivory, 
two  elaborate  silk  and  velvet  dresses,  innumerable 
silk  stockings,  a  fan  of  mother-of-pearl,  satin 
slippers,  and  an  unlimited  quantity  of  perfumes. 


208  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


All  this  was  in  addition  to  the  gifts  which  came 
in  the  carts  filled  with  sweets  and  fruits.  On  her 
wedding-night  her  gift  from  her  husband  consisted  of 
a  pearl  and  diamond  necklace,  while  on  the  next  day 
he  brought  her  a  gold  hand-bag  inset  with  jewels. 

The  custom  is  very  generally  followed  by  the 
bridegroom,  especially  if  his  financial  ability  per- 
mits, to  give  the  bride  on  the  wedding-night  a 
piece  of  jewellery  as  he  removes  the  veil  and  sees 
for  the  first  time  his  wife's  face. 

There  is  always  a  certain  amount  of  money 
presented  to  the  father  of  the  bride  by  the  husband, 
which  in  the  case  of  the  very  poor  signifies  that 
the  parents  sell  the  bride  to  the  highest  bidder. 
The  Fellaheen  and  the  Bedouin  omit  the  betrothal 
presents,  simply  sending  the  amount  of  money 
agreed  upon  beforehand.  The  Bedouin  fiancee,  that 
is  the  tent  Bedouin,  who  has  not  been  influenced 
by  European  or  city  customs,  keeps  a  certain 
portion  of  the  marriage  money  to  buy  clothes,  a 
Persian  rug,  and  a  blanket.  The  Bedouins  also, 
if  they  follow  their  old  tribal  laws,  must  send  a 
certain  number  of  sheep  and  calves  to  be  killed 
on  the  day  of  the  betrothal,  the  meat  that  is  not 
eaten  by  the  invited  guests  being  given  to  the 
poor  and  the  servants. 


MARRIAGE  CONTRACTS  209 


Among  the  better  class  of  Egyptians  a  marriage 
contract  is  drawn,  and  if  there  is  a  question  of 
the  bride  bringing  money  to  her  husband,  the 
contract  may  stipulate  its  use,  a  certain  amount 
to  be  returned  to  her  if  divorced,  etc.  If  the  wife 
is  a  member  of  an  influential  family,  she  may 
make  her  own  terms,  and  the  power  of  her  family 
behind  her  enables  her  to  enforce  the  terms  of 
the  contract. 

If  the  wife  should  find  herself  in  trouble  and 
obliged  to  stand  alone  against  her  husband,  she 
generally  rights  a  losing  battle  as  her  grievances 
are  laid  before  the  Kadi,  who  will  often  delay  his 
decision  for  years,  if  he  does  not  decide  in  favour 
of  the  husband.  The  balances  of  justice  for  the 
undefended  Egyptian  woman  are  not  weighted  in 
her  favour.  In  this,  as  in  innumerable  other  in- 
stances in  Oriental  lands,  the  superiority  of  the 
man  is  conceded  by  law.  However,  Moslem  law, 
as  laid  down  in  the  Koran,  prescribes  that  whatever 
property  the  wife  receives  from  her  husband,  parent, 
or  other  person,  is  entirely  at  her  own  disposal 
and  not  subject  to  any  claim  of  her  husband's 
creditors. 

All  Egyptians,  the  poor  Fellaheen  as  well  as  the 
rich  merchant  type,  have  certain  festivities  con- 


210         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


nected  with  a  marriage,  although  no  ceremonies  of 
any  kind  are  necessary  to  legalize  a  marriage. 
The  mere  sentence,  "I  give  myself  to  thee!" 
uttered  by  a  woman  renders  her  the  legal  wife 
of  her  husband.  In  the  streets  of  Cairo  a  familiar 
sight  to  all  Western  travellers  is  the  wedding  pro- 
cession, the  band  leading  the  march,  clowns  dancing 
gaily  ahead,  dozens  of  singers  often  making  merry 
as  they  march  and  sing,  while  the  bride's  carriage, 
gaily  decorated  with  bright  coloured  shawls  and 
flowers  and  followed  by  other  vehicles  containing 
the  nuptial  party,  is  the  centre  of  attraction. 

The  marriage  festivities  of  the  rich  are  even 
more  imposing,  and  last  from  three  to  seven  days. 
The  street  processions  are  more  elaborate,  and 
the  groom  often  sets  up  a  great  tent  hung  with 
carpets  and  embroideries  where  he  entertains  his 
friends  with  music,  singing-girls,  and  theatrical 
entertainments,  especially  when  his  home  is  not 
large  enough  for  such  pretentious  celebrations. 
The  bride,  in  turn,  gives  feasts  to  her  friends, 
each  day  being  marked  by  its  special  festivity, 
culminating  on  the  eve  when  the  bride  is  taken 
to  her  new  home. 

The  wedding  festivities  of  one  of  my  Egyptian 
women  friends  lasted  for  three  days  and  cost  her 


MARRIAGE  FESTIVITIES  211 


father  a  huge  sum  of  money.  But  she  said  to  me 
confidentially,  "  I  was  so  frightened  that  I  could 
not  hear  the  singers  nor  see  the  dancers  because  of 
my  tears.  My  mother  scolded  me  and  said,  '  Fatima, 
you  will  be  so  ugly  with  your  swollen  eyes  that  he 
will  not  even  take  you  away  from  your  father's 
house.'  "  She  laughed  in  her  jolly  way  and  said, 
'•"  You  know  that  did  not  add  to  my  composure." 
It  is  surely  a  trying  moment  for  both  bride  and 
groom  when  the  veil  is  raised  and  the  frightened 
young  wife  tremblingly  wonders  whether  she  finds 
favour  in  the  sight  of  her  liege  lord. 

This  marriage  rite  is  called  the  "  lifting  of  the 
veil,"  and  is  practised  by  all  Eastern  races.  The 
Chinese  groom  sees  the  face  of  his  bride  for  the 
first  time  as  he  lifts  her  veil  on  the  marriage  day, 
and  this  primitive  custom  has  its  survival  in  the 
West  in  the  bridegroom  lifting  the  veil  of  his  bride 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  marriage  and  giving  her  a 
husband's  kiss. 

But  such  external  descriptions  of  the  marriage 
of  the  Egyptian  woman  are  inadequate  to  describe 
or  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  this  important 
ceremonial.  Whatever  marriage  may  mean  behind 
the  exclusive  walls  of  the  harem,  one  discovers 
that  it  seldom  means  real  companionship  between 


212  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  man  and  the  woman  ;  it  never  means  equality  ; 
indeed  it  does  not  necessarily  mean  love.  It  is 
simply  a  universal  custom,  a  necessity  for  the 
continuance  of  the  home,  or  too  frequently  a 
merely  selfish  or  sensual  relationship  for  the  per- 
petuation of  the  family.  To  be  married  gives  no 
new  knowledge,  no  broader  field  for  the  use  of  her 
faculties,  no  sense  of  responsibilities  for  Egyptian 
womanhood. 

Egypt  has  no  "  new  woman,"  but  she  has  women 
of  inherent  intellectual  capabilities  although  they 
have  little  or  no  chance  to  voice  their  convictions 
in  a  land  where  women  never  share  their  husband's 
life  or  work.  Men  have,  until  now,  shrugged 
their  shoulders  contemptuously  and  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  all  efforts  of  the  women  of  Egypt  to  form 
a  higher  standard  for  themselves.  They  have 
said,  "It  is  only  women  gossiping  among  them- 
selves. How  can  one  expect  women  to  be  reason- 
able ?  It  is  best  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  what  goes 
on  in  the  women's  apartments."  Yet  they  have 
been  compelled  to  listen. 

The  women  of  this  country  are  not  militant — 
a  suffragette  parade  through  the  streets  of  Cairo 
would  be  about  as  credible  as  a  parade  of  the 
Egyptian  kings  in  their  mummy  clothes — yet  the 


A  SILENT  MOVEMENT  213 


women  are  working  silently  in  the  things  that  affect 
their  life  happiness  so  vitally  as  does  this  question 
of  marriage.  I  have  heard  more  than  one  Egyptian 
lady  say,  "It  is  not  right  to  turn  us  over  for  life 
to  some  man  of  whom  we  know  nothing  and  on 
whom  all  our  future  happiness  depends."  But  they 
insist  that  marriages  in  Egypt,  with  all  the  handi- 
cap of  going  to  each  other  complete  strangers,  are 
frequently  happy  ones,  because  the  little  blind 
god,  though  barred  by  closely  shuttered  windows 
and  customs  and  tradition  from  visiting  the  young 
girl  previous  to  marriage,  often  finds  a  happy  resting- 
place  for  his  arrows  in  the  young  wife's  heart. 


10 


CHAPTER  IX 


DIVORCE  AND  POLYGAMY 

THE  'element  oHove  being  left  out  of  marriage, 
it  leads  to  the  greatest  evil  of  Moslem  life, 
divorce.  The  percentage  of  divorce  is 
very  large,  some  say  as  high  as  90  per  cent,  of  the 
marriages  ending  in  this  legal  separation.  A  native 
Biblewoman  who  has  worked  among  Mohammedan 
women  for  fourteen  years,  when  asked  how  many 
men  or  women  of  twenty-five  years  of  age  she 
thought  likely  to  be  living  with  their  original 
partners,  said,  "  If  you  mean  that  they  have  kept 
to  each  other  and  neither  been  divorced  nor  married 
to  any  one  else,  I  should  say  perhaps  ten  in  two 
thousand." 

A  foreigner  who  inquires  concerning  divorce  will 
be  told  that  it  prevails  only  amongst  the  common 
people,  but  when  you  live  with  the  Mohammedans 
for  a  time,  you  find  that  the  laxness  of  the  marriage 
tie  is  very  prevalent  among  the  better  class.  You 

214 


DIVORCE 


215 


will  be  told  that  divorce  is  dying  out  with  the  coming 
of  the  new  education,  and  in  the  same  visit  you  will 
quite  likely  hear,  "  Yes,  she  has  been  divorced 
twice,"  or  "He  has  had  five  wives,  two  dead,  two 
divorced,  and  the  position  of  this  last  one  is  pre- 
carious." 

It  is  not  a  disgrace  to  be  divorced.  I  was  going 
with  an  Egyptian  woman  to  call  upon  some  of  her 
friends,  when  she  turned  to  me  and  said,  "  You 
know,  the  hostess  in  the  first  house  where  we  will 
call  was  my  husband's  first  wife."  In  answer  to 
my  amazed  query,  "  And  you  go  to  see  her  ?  "  she 
replied,  "  Certainly,  she  did  nothing.  They  never 
liked  each  other  and  could  not  get  along,  so  he 
divorced  her.  She  married  again  and  is  happy ; 
my  husband,  I  hope,  is  happy,  and  it  is  much  better 
than  living  together  hating  each  other."  The 
husband  may  divorce  the  wife  without  any  misbe- 
haviour on  her  part,  and  without  assigning  any 
reason. 

A  woman  may  have  the  judgment  of  divorce 
pronounced  three  times  against  her  before  it  is 
necessary  for  her  to  leave  her  husband's  house. 
The  first  time  they  may  make  peace  without  the  , 
Kadi's  clerk,  in  the  second  they  must  have  the 
assent  of  the  official  religious  man,  and  in  the  third 


216         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  wife  cannot  return  unless  she  be  married  to  an- 
other man  and  divorced  by  him,  when,  if  they  wish, 
she  may  return  as  a  new  wife  with  a  new  betrothal 
and  a  new  gift  of  money  to  her  people.  This  third 
degree  is  rarely  pronounced  and  then  revoked,  as 
the  law  is  to  enable  the  couple  to  think  of  the  penalty 
and  be  cautious  in  exceeding  the  two-fold  limit 
allowed. 

Often  the  man  sends  the  wife  away  and  does  not 
finally  divorce  her,  in  so  doing  not  allowing  her  to 
remarry.  In  that  case  she  may  go  to  the  official 
and  demand  a  divorce.  Also  in  some  marriage 
contracts  it  is  stipulated  that  the  wife  has  the  right 
to  divorce  the  husband  for  certain  stated  reasons. 
The  Court  is  never  consulted  in  questions  of  either 
marriage  or  divorce  unless  the  parties  refuse  to 
agree  to  the  arrangements.  In  every  quarter  of 
the  city  and  in  every  village  there  is  an  official  who 
gives  certificates  of  divorce,  the  copies  of  which  are 
kept  in  a  Government  register. 

A  divorced  wife  must  remain  single  three  months 
before  she  may  remarry,  but  a  man  may  marry 
immediately.  If  the  divorced  couple  have  children, 
a  girl  stays  with  her  mother  until  she  is  nine  years 
of  age,  a  boy  until  he  is  seven,  that  is  if  the  mother 
remains  unmarried.    If  she  marries,  the  children 


CHILDREN  OF  DIVORCED  PARENTS  217 


may  go  to  her  mother.  The  father  is  obliged  by 
the  laws  of  the  Koran  to  support  the  children  and 
to  pay  a  just  amount  to  the  person  undertaking 
their  care.  If  the  mother  does  not  wish  for  the 
children,  or  if  she  remarries  and  has  no  family  with 
whom  they  may  be  placed,  the  father  is  obliged 
to  take  them. 

Often  both  parents  remarry  and  the  position  of 
the  children  is  very  unfortunate,  as  neither  of  the 
members  of  the  new  household  care  for  the  children 
of  their  predecessors.  I  know  of  a  case  of  a  very 
good  family  living  in  the  country  near  Cairo.  The 
mother  was  divorced,  and  the  sons,  both  being  past 
the  age  of  seven,  were  left  with  the  father,  and  very 
badly  treated  by  the  new  wife,  who  soon  had  sons 
of  her  own.  They  passed  a  most  unhappy  child- 
hood, feeling  bitter  both  towards  father  and  mother' 
growing  up  without  knowing  what  a  real  home  or 
parental  love  might  mean. 

The  divorced  wife  may  take  the  furniture  of  her 
apartments  and  of  course  all  her  clothing  and  jewels. 
A  woman  told  me  that  when  she  was  divorced,  "  I 
took  everything  in  the  house,  every  movable  thing. 
When  he  returned  from  town  he  did  not  have  even 
a  chair  to  sit  upon."  At  the  payment  of  the  mar- 
riage money  to  the  parents  a  certain  amount  is  with- 


218 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


held  and  this  sum  is  to  be  given  to  the  wife  if  she  is 
divorced.  A  friend  whose  father  stipulated  that 
the  sum  paid  upon  the  betrothal  of  his  daughter 
was  to  be  $1,500  only  received  §1,000,  as  $500 
was  kept  as  a  sort  of  "  alimony  "  if  trouble  should 
arise  and  the  wife  be  returned  to  her  people. 

When  the  wife  is  of  the  poorer  class  and  returns 
home  with  her  children,  she  is  given  a  corner  of 
the  room  on  which  to  put  her  sleeping-mat  ;  she 
shares  in  the  common  food,  which  is  of  the  simplest, 
and  there  is  always  room  in  the  street  or  the  tiny 
courtyard  for  a  few  more  babies  to  roll  in  the  sand. 
Yet  it  is  a  burden,  and  a  marriage  is  made  for  her  as 
soon  as  possible,  although  her  market  value  has 
deteriorated  to  a  certain  extent. 

The  rule  of  divorcing  the  wife  once,  then  again, 
and  finally  the  third  time  has  degenerated  among 
the  common  class  in  the  husband's  repeating  the 
formula  three  times,  "  I  divorce  thee,  I  divorce 
thee,  I  divorce  thee."  But  this  is  actually  going 
against  the  law  as  laid  down  by  Mohammed,  who 
gave  the  three  trials  for  divorce  in  order  to  give  the 
estranged  couple  a  chance  for  reconciliation,  if 
possible. 

It  is  so  travestied  at  the  present  time  that  a  man 
may  go  into  a  controversy  with  a  friend  and,  to 


MOHAMMED'S  LAW  219 


strengthen  his  statement,  say,  perhaps  the  strongest 
oath  a  Moslem  may  make,  "  If  what  I  say  is  not  the 
truth,  I  divorce  my  wife  by  the  triple  divorce/1 
and  if  he  has  not  told  the  truth  the  oath  may  take 
effect.  If  he  has  several  wives  he  may  choose  the 
one  to  put  away.  I  doubted  this  statement  and 
asked  an  educated  man,  a  Sheikh,  if  it  were  true. 
He  answered  me  that  he  regretted  to  say  that  if  a 
man  took  such  a  foolish  oath  and  was  not  telling 
the  truth,  he  would  be  compelled  to  live  up  to  his 
statement. 

One  of  the  weak  points  in  this  general  divorce 
system  is  that  it  does  not  foster  a  community  of 
interest  in  family  life.  The  wife  can  never  take  a 
keen  interest  in  the  home,  as  she  does  not  know  how 
long  it  will  be  hers.  There  is  a  saying  that  a  man's 
heart  is  as  hard  as  a  blow  from  an  elbow,  and  that 
his  love  lasts  but  two  months,  and  the  woman  is 
always  afraid  of  losing  this  love  and  being  returned 
to  her  parents.  She  does  not  care  to  help  her  hus- 
band increase  his  wealth  as  it  may  benefit  another. 
She  is  never  sure  of  her  ground,  and  many  of  the 
women  try  to  deceive  their  husbands  in  financial 
ways  in  order  to  have  a  little  store  laid  away  for  a 
time  of  possible  trouble.  It  is  said  among  the 
lower  classes  of  Moslems  that  when  a  Mohammedan 


220  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


woman  prepares  a  meal  for  her  husband  she  is 
never  sure  to  be  his  wife  long  enough  to  eat  of  it 
herself. 

Not  only  is  divorce  the  degenerating  fact  in  the 
life  of  the  women,  but  the  effect  upon  the  children 
is  very  bad.  They  hear  of  jealousy  and  hatred  and 
learn  of  intrigue  from  the  cradle.  They  get  a 
false  idea  of  woman's  position,  and  their  passions 
of  hatred  and  revenge  are  early  trained,  as  they 
constantly  hear  their  parents  spoken  against  and 
see  the  jealousy  that  exists  between  the  mothers  and 
the  wives  who  have  supplanted  them. 

But  if  divorce  is  very  much  alive  in  Egypt,  that 
other  great  social  evil,  judged  by  Western  standards, 
polygamy,  is  dying  out.  The  Moslem  says  that 
Mohammed  really  intended  all  followers  to  have 
only  one  wife,  although  he  allows  them  four.  He 
says,  "  Of  other  women  who  seem  good  in  your  eyes, 
marry  but  two  or  three  or  four ;  and  if  ye  still 
fear  that  ye  shall  not  act  equitably,  then  one  only  ; 
or  the  slaves  whom  ye  have  acquired ;  this  will 
make  justice  on  your  part  easier."  This  is  inter- 
preted as  meaning  that  all  must  be  treated  alike, 
and  Mohammedans  assert  it  is  known  that  a  man 
cannot  love  four  women  with  equal  fervour,  nor 
treat  them  with  equal  consideration  as  there  is 


POLYGAMY 


221 


always  sure  to  be  a  favourite.  Therefore  Moham- 
med meant  that  man  should  have  but  one  wife. 

Cynics  say  that  polygamy  is  dying,  not  because 
it  is  believed  to  be  following  a  higher  moral  principle 
to  have  but  one  wife,  but  for  purely  economic 
reasons.  It  is  difficult  to  support  several  wives, 
especially  if  each  one  demands  a  separate  house, 
as  do  those  of  the  better  class.  Yet  polygamy  does 
prevail  among  the  older  generation  and  in  the 
provinces,  where  living  is  not  so  expensive.  It  is 
also  most  prevalent  amongst  the  Bedouins. 

I  visited  in  a  home  where  there  were  three  wives, 
all  seemingly  friendly.  I  also  know  a  woman  who 
is  one  of  two  wives,  although  they  do  not  live  in 
the  same  town.  She  married  her  husband  when 
very  young  and  bore  him  two  children,  and  they 
seemed  very  happy,  until  one  day  he  announced 
that  he  was  going  to  marry  again.  She  took  her 
little  girl  and  went  to  her  people,  where  she  lived 
very  unhappily  for  two  years,  as  her  parents  were 
dead  and  her  uncles  and  cousins  made  her  feel  that 
the  bread  of  charity  was  dry  bread.  The  husband 
did  not  find  the  new  wife  especially  amiable  and  he 
divorced  her  and  sought  again  the  first  wife.  She 
returned  with  him  and  for  a  time  all  went  well, 
when  he  finally  married  again.    She  could  do  no- 


222  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


thing,  having  tasted  the  bitterness  of  being  a  poor 
relation,  so  she  remains,  never  showing  what  must 
be  within  her  heart.  Her  eyes  sparkle  with  fun 
and  she  is  as  jolly  and  light-hearted  as  if,  according 
to  our  ideas,  the  greatest  tragedy  of  a  woman's  life 
had  not  come  to  her. 

According  to  custom,  if  the  first  wife  does  not  make 
trouble  on  the  entrance  of  a  second  wife  into  the 
household,  the  husband  gives  her  the  same  amount 
of  presents  he  gives  the  new  wife,  with  an  additional 
gift  of  value.  In  this  particular  case  my  friend  re- 
ceived in  addition  to  some  jewellery  and  silk  for 
gowns,  a  piece  of  land  worth  about  five  thousand 
dollars. 

An  Egyptian  lady  near  Assiut,  in  speaking  of  her 
father-in-law,  said,  "  He  has  had  seven  wives."  At 
my  horrified  looks  she  hastened  to  assure  me  that 
they  were  not  all  at  the  same  time.  "  He  is  a  true 
Mohammedan.  One  is  dead,  two  divorced,  and  he 
now  has  only  four,  the  lawful  number." 

In  these  domestic  relations,  as  throughout  every 
Egyptian  institution,  the  influence  of  the  faith  of 
Islam  is  distinctly  traced.  While  there  is  a  conflict 
at  times  between  modernity  and  medievalism,  as 
the  life  of  the  West  flows  down  into  this  old  land, 
this  conflict  is  yet  but  as  a  surface  affair.    The  main 


SEVEN  WIVES 


223 


stream  of  civilization  is  still  strongly  Islamic.  The 
voice  and  example  of  the  Arabian  Prophet  are 
mightier  than  any  outside  influence  in  present-day 
Egypt,  and  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  the  guiding 
star  of  Egyptian  men  and  women  of  the  home, 
however  ingeniously  his  followers  claim  to  interpret 
him  in  the  terms  of  modernity. 


CHAPTER  X 


AMUSEMENTS  OF  THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMEN 

I AM  often  asked  the  question  "  How  does  the 
Egyptian  lady  amuse  herself  ?  "  With  the 
nervous,  restless  people  of  the  Western  world 
the  question  of  amusement  is  a  very  serious  one, 
and  we  work  hard  trying  to  find  new  ways  to  pass 
the  hours.  With  the  Eastern  woman,  amusement, 
as  we  understand  it,  does  not  exist,  nor  is  it  necessary 
for  her.  She  is  first  of  all  a  housekeeper  and  attends 
personally  to  many  details  of  her  home  that,  with 
us,  are  left  to  servants.  She  often  sees  all  the 
provisions  that  are  brought  into  the  house,  inspects 
the  produce  of  the  market  that  the  cook  brings 
each  morning,  carries  keys  to  the  store-rooms,  and 
gives  out  personally  the  daily  allowances  for  the 
food  of  her  household.  She  knows  how  to  cook  and 
thinks  it  no  disgrace  to  cook  the  dinner  for  the 
day  or  to  show  the  servants  how  to  prepare  a  new 
dish. 

224 


AN  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN'S  DUTIES  225 


With  the  middle  class  the  children's  clothing  is 
made  by  the  mother,  and  even  with  the  rich  the 
mother  superintends  the  making  of  the  wardrobes 
of  all  under  her  roof.  It  is  a  fact  that  to-day  in 
Cairo  the  ready-made  clothing  has  made  its  ap- 
pearance, and  the  house  tailor  is  not  always  one  of 
the  regular  domestic  staff,  but  still  the  wife  attends 
personally  to  many  things,  which  perhaps  is  a 
blessing  in  disguise  for  this  woman  shut  away  from 
the  world. 

I  know  a  woman  whose  husband  is  one  of  the 
great  men  of  Egypt,  and  she  always  arranges  his 
clothing  for  him  in  the  morning,  and  looks  it  over 
carefully  when  it  is  taken  off.  It  is  no  light  task 
to  keep  it  in  repair  and  free  from  spot,  as  the  long 
flowing  gowns  are  made  of  light  coloured  silks,  and 
the  cloaks  are  particularly  prone  to  sweep  up  the 
dust  of  the  city  streets. 

Still,  with  her  many  duties,  there  are  hours  that 
hang  heavily  upon  the  Egyptian  woman's  hands, 
and  it  is  with  the  passing  of  these  hours  that  we  are 
curious.  The  Egyptian  woman  does  not  know  of 
the  afternoon  call  as  we  understand  it,  unless  she 
be  the  wife  of  an  official  in  Cairo  who  has  become 
Europeanized.  With  the  great  middle  class  it 
would  be  a  matter  of  amusement  and  gossip  for  many 


226  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


hours  if  a  woman  should  come  to  her  with  her  card- 
case  in  her  hands  and  pass  a  few  moments  in  idle 
remarks.  She  does  not  go  to  the  house  of  a  friend 
unless  invited  there  for  some  special  purpose.  As 
she  says,  M  I  wait  for  a  wedding  or  a  birth  or  a  death, 
then  we  meet  and  enjoy  ourselves  in  a  much  more 
thorough  manner  than  do  you  of  the  Occident,  who 
look  so  uncomfortable  while  you  are  being  amused. 
Then  I  go  home  and  hope  for  another  wedding  or 
birth  or  death." 

Visiting  is  generally  among  relatives.  Few  friends 
are  made  outside  of  the  circle  of  relations,  and  the 
older,  conservative  women  pride  themselves  on 
knowing  no  one  except  the  members  of  their  family  or 
those  of  the  family  of  their  husband.  The  relatives 
— and  these  are  always  most  numerous — come  to  the 
great  houses  and  stay  indefinitely.  No  great  pro- 
vision need  be  made  for  an  added  influx  of  guests. 
They  can  make  themselves  comfortable  in  circum- 
stances that,  to  say  the  least,  would  appear  to  us  as 
crowded. 

I  have  a  few  friends  in  Egypt  upon  whom  I  can 
call  without  the  formality  of  a  special  invitation, 
and  one  day  I  went  to  see  one  of  them,  a  typical 
woman  of  the  old  school,  who  practically  never  left 
the  harem,  although  her  daughter  was  a  very 


CAIRO  :  HOUSES  WITH  MOUSHRABEAHS    (LATTICES  BEFORE  THE 

WOMEN'S  quarters). 


227 


BEHIND  A  MOUSHRABEAH  229 


modern  young  woman  married  to  a  Government 
official. 

When  I  arrived  I  found  this  daughter  sitting  on 
a  divan  in  front  of  the  moushrabeah  evidently  com- 
pletely absorbed  in  something  across  the  street. 
She  laughed  rather  apologetically  and  said,  "  The 
daughter  of  the  house  across  the  way  is  betrothed 
to  a  rich  merchant,  and  I  am  waiting  to  see  the 
betrothal  presents  arrive.  I  have  asked  some  friends 
to  come  and  watch  for  them  ;  stay  and  be  one  of 
the  party."  We  sat  there  in  the  dim  room  eating 
sweets  and  drinking  coffee  and  talking  in  low  tones. 
She  said,  ' '  Behind  every  moushrabeah  on  this  street 
are  women  doing  just  what  we  are  doing.  When 
I  was  engaged,  they  did  the  same." 

As  we  were  sitting  there,  three  veiled  figures 
came  in,  kissed  Fatima  on  both  cheeks,  and  were 
introduced  to  me.  They  took  off  the  piece  of 
white  chiffon  that  veiled  their  faces,  untied  the 
black  cape-like  harborah  that  covered  the  head 
and  shoulders,  slipped  off  their  outside  skirts  and 
stood  arrayed  in  gorgeous  galabeighs  or  house 
dresses.  One  was  of  pink  silk,  one  of  canary  satin, 
and  the  third  was  a  light  blue.  They  were  elabo- 
rately trimmed  about  the  neck  and  shoulders  with 
lace  and  gold  passementerie,  and  had  a  train  that 


230  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


swept  the  floor  as  they  walked.  Their  hair,  braided 
in  two  braids  hanging  down  the  back  like  that  of 
our  schoolgirls,  was  partially  covered  with  veils  of 
spangled  net  that  hung  nearly  to  the  waist. 

These  friends  of  Fatima  settled  themselves  upon 
the  low  divan  in  front  of  the  window,  took  the 
coffee  from  the  serving  maid,  talked  and  gesticulated, 
making  their  bracelets  tinkle  as  they  waved  their 
little  arms  in  the  air.  They  spoke  no  English,  but 
Fatima  interpreted  for  them,  and  I  could  see  that 
they  were  very  curious  about  me. 

I,  luckily,  had  on  some  jewellery  that  is  generally 
reserved  for  dinner  parties,  for  I  had  learned  that 
when  calling  upon  Egyptian  ladies  it  is  as  well  to 
wear  as  much  jewellery  as  one  can  and  still  preserve 
one's  self-respect.  Eastern  women  cannot  under- 
stand not  wearing  jewels  if  fortunate  enough  to 
possess  such  tangible  proofs  of  a  husband's  esteem. 

One  of  the  guests,  a  girl  not  more  than  seventeen, 
was  specially  gay  and  jolly,  as  it  was  her  first 
visit  for  a  year.  She  had  married  into  a  family 
or  clan  who  did  not  permit  a  woman  to  leave  the 
house  of  her  husband  until  the  first  child  was  born. 
Her  son  was  now  a  couple  of  months  old,  and  she 
was  again  peeping  into  the  outside  world,  which  had 
been  so  completely  closed  to  her  for  more  than  a 


A  SILENT  MOVEMENT 


218 


women  are  working  silently  in  the  things  that  affect 
their  life  happiness  so  vitally  as  does  this  question 
of  marriage.  I  have  heard  more  than  one  Egyptian 
lady  say,  "It  is  not  right  to  turn  us  over  for  life 
to  some  man  of  whom  we  know  nothing  and  on 
whom  all  our  future  happiness  depends."  But  they 
insist  that  marriages  in  Egypt,  with  all  the  handi- 
cap of  going  to  each  other  complete  strangers,  are 
frequently  happy  ones,  because  the  little  blind 
god,  though  barred  by  closely  shuttered  windows 
and  customs  and  tradition  from  visiting  the  young 
girl  previous  to  marriage,  often  finds  a  happy  resting- 
place  for  his  arrows  in  the  young  wife's  heart. 


10 


CHAPTER  IX 


DIVORCE  AND  POLYGAMY 

THE  'element  of^love  being  left  out  of  marriage, 
it  leads  to  the  greatest  evil  of  Moslem  life, 
divorce.  The  percentage  of  divorce  is 
very  large,  some  say  as  high  as  90  per  cent,  of  the 
marriages  ending  in  this  legal  separation.  A  native 
Biblewoman  who  has  worked  among  Mohammedan 
women  for  fourteen  years,  when  asked  how  many 
men  or  women  of  twenty-five  years  of  age  she 
thought  likely  to  be  living  with  their  original 
partners,  said,  "  If  you  mean  that  they  have  kept 
to  each  other  and  neither  been  divorced  nor  married 
to  any  one  else,  I  should  say  perhaps  ten  in  two 
thousand/' 

A  foreigner  who  inquires  concerning  divorce  will 
be  told  that  it  prevails  only  amongst  the  common 
people,  but  when  you  live  with  the  Mohammedans 
for  a  time,  you  find  that  the  laxness  of  the  marriage 
tie  is  very  prevalent  among  the  better  class.  You 

214 


DIVORCE 


215 


will  be  told  that  divorce  is  dying  out  with  the  coming 
of  the  new  education,  and  in  the  same  visit  you  will 
quite  likely  hear,  "  Yes,  she  has  been  divorced 
twice,"  or  "He  has  had  five  wives,  two  dead,  two 
divorced,  and  the  position  of  this  last  one  is  pre- 
carious.' ' 

It  is  not  a  disgrace  to  be  divorced.  I  was  going 
with  an  Egyptian  woman  to  call  upon  some  of  her 
friends,  when  she  turned  to  me  and  said,  "  You 
know,  the  hostess  in  the  first  house  where  we  will 
call  was  my  husband's  first  wife."  In  answer  to 
my  amazed  query,  "  And  you  go  to  see  her  ?  "  she 
replied,  "  Certainly,  she  did  nothing.  They  never 
liked  each  other  and  could  not  get  along,  so  he 
divorced  her.  She  married  again  and  is  happy ; 
my  husband,  I  hope,  is  happy,  and  it  is  much  better 
than  living  together  hating  each  other."  The 
husband  may  divorce  the  wife  without  any  misbe- 
haviour on  her  part,  and  without  assigning  any 
reason. 

A  woman  may  have  the  judgment  of  divorce 
pronounced 1  three  times  against  her  before  it  is 
necessary  for  her  to  leave  her  husband's  house. 
The  first  time  they  may  make  peace  without  the 
Kadi's  clerk,  in  the  second  they  must  have  the 
assent  of  the  official  religious  man,  and  in  the  third 


216 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  wife  cannot  return  unless  she  be  married  to  an- 
other man  and  divorced  by  him,  when,  if  they  wish, 
she  may  return  as  a  new  wife  with  a  new  betrothal 
and  a  new  gift  of  money  to  her  people.  This  third 
degree  is  rarely  pronounced  and  then  revoked,  as 
the  law  is  to  enable  the  couple  to  think  of  the  penalty 
and  be  cautious  in  exceeding  the  two-fold  limit 
allowed.  . 

Often  the  man  sends  the  wife  away  and  does  not 
finally  divorce  her,  in  so  doing  not  allowing  her  to 
remarry.  In  that  case  she  may  go  to  the  official 
and  demand  a  divorce.  Also  in  some  marriage 
contracts  it  is  stipulated  that  the  wife  has  the  right 
to  divorce  the  husband  for  certain  stated  reasons. 
The  Court  is  never  consulted  in  questions  of  either 
marriage  or  divorce  unless  the  parties  refuse  to 
agree  to  the  arrangements.  In  every  quarter  of 
the  city  and  in  every  village  there  is  an  official  who 
gives  certificates  of  divorce,  the  copies  of  which  are 
kept  in  a  Government  register. 

A  divorced  wife  must  remain  single  three  months 
before  she  may  remarry,  but  a  man  may  marry 
immediately.  If  the  divorced  couple  have  children, 
a  girl  stays  with  her  mother  until  she  is  nine  years 
of  age,  a  boy  until  he  is  seven,  that  is  if  the  mother 
remains  unmarried.    If  she  marries,  the  children 


CHILDREN  OF  DIVORCED  PARENTS  217 


may  go  to  her  mother.  The  father  is  obliged  by 
the  laws  of  the  Koran  to  support  the  children  and 
to  pay  a  just  amount  to  the  person  undertaking 
their  care.  If  the  mother  does  not  wish  for  the 
children,  or  if  she  remarries  and  has  no  family  with 
whom  they  may  be  placed,  the  father  is  obliged 
to  take  them. 

Often  both  parents  remarry  and  the  position  of 
the  children  is  very  unfortunate,  as  neither  of  the 
members  of  the  new  household  care  for  the  children 
of  their  predecessors.  I  know  of  a  case  of  a  very 
good  family  living  in  the  country  near  Cairo.  The 
mother  was  divorced,  and  the  sons,  both  being  past 
the  age  of  seven,  were  left  with  the  father,  and  very 
badly  treated  by  the  new  wife,  who  soon  had  sons 
of  her  own.  They  passed  a  most  unhappy  child- 
hood, feeling  bitter  both  towards  father  and  mother' 
growing  up  without  knowing  what  a  real  home  or 
parental  love  might  mean. 

The  divorced  wife  may  take  the  furniture  of  her 
apartments  and  of  course  all  her  clothing  and  jewels. 
A  woman  told  me  that  when  she  was  divorced,  "  I 
took  everything  in  the  house,  every  movable  thing. 
When  he  returned  from  town  he  did  not  have  even 
a  chair  to  sit  upon."  At  the  payment  of  the  mar- 
riage money  to  the  parents  a  certain  amount  is  with- 


218  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


held  and  this  sum  is  to  be  given  to  the  wife  if  she  is 
divorced.  A  friend  whose  father  stipulated  that 
the  sum  paid  upon  the  betrothal  of  his  daughter 
was  to  be  $1,500  only  received  $1,000,  as  $500 
was  kept  as  a  sort  of  "  alimony  "  if  trouble  should 
arise  and  the  wife  be  returned  to  her  people. 

When  the  wife  is  of  the  poorer  class  and  returns 
home  with  her  children,  she  is  given  a  corner  of 
the  room  on  which  to  put  her  sleeping -mat  ;  she 
shares  in  the  common  food,  which  is  of  the  simplest, 
and  there  is  always  room  in  the  street  or  the  tiny 
courtyard  for  a  few  more  babies  to  roll  in  the  sand. 
Yet  it  is  a  burden,  and  a  marriage  is  made  for  her  as 
soon  as  possible,  although  her  market  value  has 
deteriorated  to  a  certain  extent. 

The  rule  of  divorcing  the  wife  once,  then  again, 
and  finally  the  third  time  has  degenerated  among 
the  common  class  in  the  husband's  repeating  the 
formula  three  times,  "  I  divorce  thee,  I  divorce 
thee,  I  divorce  thee."  But  this  is  actually  going 
against  the  law  as  laid  down  by  Mohammed,  who 
gave  the  three  trials  for  divorce  in  order  to  give  the 
estranged  couple  a  chance  for  reconciliation,  if 
possible. 

It  is  so  travestied  at  the  present  time  that  a  man 
may  go  into  a  controversy  with  a  friend  and,  to 


MOHAMMED'S  LAW  219 


strengthen  his  statement,  say,  perhaps  the  strongest 
oath  a  Moslem  may  make,  "  If  what  I  say  is  not  the 
truth,  I  divorce  my  wife  by  the  triple  divorce/' 
and  if  he  has  not  told  the  truth  the  oath  may  take 
effect.  If  he  has  several  wives  he  may  choose  the 
one  to  put  away.  I  doubted  this  statement  and 
asked  an  educated  man,  a  Sheikh,  if  it  were  true. 
He  answered  me  that  he  regretted  to  say  that  if  a 
man  took  such  a  foolish  oath  and  was  not  telling 
the  truth,  he  would  be  compelled  to  live  up  to  his 
statement. 

One  of  the  weak  points  in  this  general  divorce 
system  is  that  it  does  not  foster  a  community  of 
interest  in  family  life.  The  wife  can  never  take  a 
keen  interest  in  the  home,  as  she  does  not  know  how 
long  it  will  be  hers.  There  is  a  saying  that  a  man's 
heart  is  as  hard  as  a  blow  from  an  elbow,  and  that 
his  love  lasts  but  two  months,  andxthe  woman  is 
always  afraid  of  losing  this  love  and  being  returned 
to  her  parents.  She  does  not  care  to  help  her  hus- 
band increase  his  wealth  as  it  may  benefit  another. 
She  is  never  sure  of  her  ground,  and  many  of  the 
women  try  to  deceive  their  husbands  in  financial 
ways  in  order  to  have  a  little  store  laid  away  for  a 
time  of  possible  trouble.  It  is  said  among  the 
lower  classes  of  Moslems  that  when  a  Mohammedan 


220  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


woman  prepares  a  meal  for  her  husband  she  is 
never  sure  to  be  his  wife  long  enough  to  eat  of  it 
herself. 

Not  only  is  divorce  the  degenerating  fact  in  the 
life  of  the  women,  but  the  effect  upon  the  children 
is  very  bad.  They  hear  of  jealousy  and  hatred  and 
learn  of  intrigue  from  the  cradle.  They  get  a 
false  idea  of  woman's  position,  and  their  passions 
of  hatred  and  revenge  are  early  trained,  as  they 
constantly  hear  their  parents  spoken  against  and 
see  the  jealousy  that  exists  between  the  mothers  and 
the  wives  who  have  supplanted  them. 

But  if  divorce  is  very  much  alive  in  Egypt,  that 
other  great  social  evil,  judged  by  Western  standards, 
polygamy,  is  dying  out.  The  Moslem  says  that 
Mohammed  really  intended  all  followers  to  have 
only  one  wife,  although  he  allows  them  four.  He 
says,  "  Of  other  women  who  seem  good  in  your  eyes, 
marry  but  two  or  three  or  four ;  and  if  ye  still 
fear  that  ye  shall  not  act  equitably,  then  one  only ; 
or  the  slaves  whom  ye  have  acquired ;  this  will 
make  justice  on  your  part  easier."  This  is  inter- 
preted as  meaning  that  all  must  be  treated  alike, 
and  Mohammedans  assert  it  is  known  that  a  man 
cannot  love  four  women  with  equal  fervour,  nor 
treat  them  with  equal  consideration  as  there  is 


POLYGAMY 


221 


always  sure  to  be  a  favourite.  Therefore  Moham- 
med meant  that  man  should  have  but  one  wife. 

Cynics  say  that  polygamy  is  dying,  not  because 
it  is  believed  to  be  following  a  higher  moral  principle 
to  have  but  one  wife,  but  for  purely  economic 
reasons.  It  is  difficult  to  support  several  wives, 
especially  if  each  one  demands  a  separate  house, 
as  do  those  of  the  better  class.  Yet  polygamy  does 
prevail  among  the  older  generation  and  in  the 
provinces,  where  living  is  not  so  expensive.  It  is 
also  most  prevalent  amongst  the  Bedouins. 

I  visited  in  a  home  where  there  were  three  wives, 
all  seemingly  friendly.  I  also  know  a  woman  who 
is  one  of  two  wives,  although  they  do  not  live  in 
the  same  town.  She.  married  her  husband  when 
very  young  and  bore  him  two  children,  and  they 
seemed  very  happy,  until  one  day  he  announced 
that  he  was  going  to  marry  again.  She  took  her 
little  girl  and  went  to  her  people,  where  she  lived 
very  unhappily  for  two  years,  as  her  parents  were 
dead  and  her  uncles  and  cousins  made  her  feel  that 
the  bread  of  charity  was  dry  bread.  The  husband 
did  not  find  the  new  wife  especially  amiable  and  he 
divorced  her  and  sought  again  the  first  wife.  She 
returned  with  him  and  for  a  time  all  went  well, 
when  he  finally  married  again.    She  could  do  no- 


222  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


thing,  having  tasted  the  bitterness  of  being  a  poor 
relation,  so  she  remains,  never  showing  what  must 
be  within  her  heart.  Her  eyes  sparkle  with  fun 
and  she  is  as  jolly  and  light-hearted  as  if,  according 
to  our  ideas,  the  greatest  tragedy  of  a  woman's  life 
had  not  come  to  her. 

According  to  custom,  if  the  first  wife  does  not  make 
trouble  on  the  entrance  of  a  second  wife  into  the 
household,  the  husband  gives  her  the  same  amount 
of  presents  he  gives  the  new  wife,  with  an  additional 
gift  of  value.  In  this  particular  case  my  friend  re- 
ceived in  addition  to  some  jewellery  and  silk  for 
gowns,  a  piece  of  land  worth  about  five  thousand 
dollars. 

An  Egyptian  lady  near  Assiut,  in  speaking  of  her 
father-in-law,  said,  "  He  has  had  seven  wives."  At 
my  horrified  looks  she  hastened  to  assure  me  that 
they  were  not  all  at  the  same  time.  "  He  is  a  true 
Mohammedan.  One  is  dead,  two  divorced,  and  he 
now  has  only  four,  the  lawful  number." 

In  these  domestic  relations,  as  throughout  every 
Egyptian  institution,  the  influence  of  the  faith  of 
Islam  is  distinctly  traced.  While  there  is  a  conflict 
at  times  between  modernity  and  medievalism,  as 
the  life  of  the  West  flows  down  into  this  old  land, 
this  conflict  is  yet  but  as  a  surface  affair.    The  main 


SEVEN  WIVES 


223 


stream  of  civilization  is  still  strongly  Islamic.  The 
voice  and  example  of  the  Arabian  Prophet  are 
mightier  than  any  outside  influence  in  present-day 
Egypt,  and  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  the  guiding 
star  of  Egyptian  men  and  women  of  the  home, 
however  ingeniously  his  followers  claim  to  interpret 
him  in  the  terms  of  modernity. 


CHAPTER  X 


AMUSEMENTS  OF  THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMEN 

I AM  often  asked  the  question  "  How  does  the 
Egyptian  lady  amuse  herself  ?  "  With  the 
nervous,  restless  people  of  the  Western  world 
the  question  of  amusement  is  a  very  serious  one, 
and  we  work  hard  trying  to  find  new  ways  to  pass 
the  hours.  With  the  Eastern  woman,  amusement, 
as  we  understand  it,  does  not  exist,  nor  is  it  necessary 
for  her.  She  is  first  of  all  a  housekeeper  and  attends 
personally  to  many  details  of  her  home  that,  with 
us,  are  left  to  servants.  She  often  sees  all  the 
provisions  that  are  brought  into  the  house,  inspects 
the  produce  of  the  market  that  the  cook  brings 
each  morning,  carries  keys  to  the  store-rooms,  and 
gives  out  personally  the  daily  allowances  for  the 
food  of  her  household.  She  knows  how  to  cook  and 
thinks  it  no  disgrace  to  cook  the  dinner  for  the 
day  or  to  show  the  servants  how  to  prepare  a  new 
dish. 

224 


AN  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN'S  DUTIES  225 


With  the  middle  class  the  children's  clothing  is 
made  by  the  mother,  and  even  with  the  rich  the 
mother  superintends  the  making  of  the  wardrobes 
of  all  under  her  roof.  It  is  a  fact  that  to-day  in 
Cairo  the  ready-made  clothing  has  made  its  ap- 
pearance, and  the  house  tailor  is  not  always  one  of 
the  regular  domestic  staff,  but  still  the  wife  attends 
personally  to  many  things,  which  perhaps  is  a 
blessing  in  disguise  for  this  woman  shut  away  from 
the  world. 

I  know  a  woman  whose  husband  is  one  of  the 
great  men  of  Egypt,  and  she  always  arranges  his 
clothing  for  him  in  the  morning,  and  looks  it  over 
carefully  when  it  is  taken  off.  It  is  no  light  task 
to  keep  it  in  repair  and  free  from  spot,  as  the  long 
flowing  gowns  are  made  of  light  coloured  silks,  and 
the  cloaks  are  particularly  prone  to  sweep  up  the 
dust  of  the  city  streets. 

Still,  with  her  many  duties,  there  are  hours  that 
hang  heavily  upon  the  Egyptian  woman's  hands, 
and  it  is  with  the  passing  of  these  hours  that  we  are 
curious.  The  Egyptian  woman  does  not  know  of 
the  afternoon  call  as  we  understand  it,  unless  she 
be  the  wife  of  an  official  in  Cairo  who  has  become 
Europeanized.  With  the  great  middle  class  it 
would  be  a  matter  of  amusement  and  gossip  for  many 


226         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


hours  if  a  woman  should  come  to  her  with  her  card- 
case  in  her  hands  and  pass  a  few  moments  in  idle 
remarks.  She  does  not  go  to  the  house  of  a  friend 
unless  invited  there  for  some  special  purpose.  As 
she  says,  "  I  wait  for  a  wedding  or  a  birth  or  a  death, 
then  we  meet  and  enjoy  ourselves  in  a  much  more 
thorough  manner  than  do  you  of  the  Occident,  who 
look  so  uncomfortable  while  you  are  being  amused. 
Then  I  go  home  and  hope  for  another  wedding  or 
birth  or  death." 

Visiting  is  generally  among  relatives.  Few  friends 
are  made  outside  of  the  circle  of  relations,  and  the 
older,  conservative  women  pride  themselves  on 
knowing  no  one  except  the  members  of  their  family  or 
those  of  the  family  of  their  husband.  The  relatives 
— and  these  are  always  most  numerous — come  to  the 
great  houses  and  stay  indefinitely.  No  great  pro- 
vision need  be  made  for  an  added  influx  of  guests. 
They  can  make  themselves  comfortable  in  circum- 
stances that,  to  say  the  least,  would  appear  to  us  as 
crowded. 

I  have  a  few  friends  in  Egypt  upon  whom  I  can 
call  without  the  formality  of  a  special  invitation, 
and  one  day  I  went  to  see  one  of  them,  a  typical 
woman  of  the  old  school,  who  practically  never  left 
the  harem,  although  her  daughter  was  a  very 


CAIRO  :  HOUSES  WITH  MOUSHRABEAHS    (LATTICES  BEFORE  THE 

WOMEN'S  quarters). 


BEHIND  A  MOUSHRABEAH  229 


modern  young  woman  married  to  a  Government 
official. 

When  I  arrived  I  found  this  daughter  sitting  on 
a  divan  in  front  of  the  moushrabeah  evidently  com- 
pletely absorbed  in  something  across  the  street. 
She  laughed  rather  apologetically  and  said,  "  The 
daughter  of  the  house  across  the  way  is  betrothed 
to  a  rich  merchant,  and  I  am  waiting  to  see  the 
betrothal  presents  arrive.  I  have  asked  some  friends 
to  come  and  watch  for  them  ;  stay  and  be  one  of 
the  party."  We  sat  there  in  the  dim  room  eating 
sweets  and  drinking  coffee  and  talking  in  low  tones. 
She  said,  "Behind  every  moushrabeah  on  this  street 
are  women  doing  just  what  we  are  doing.  When 
I  was  engaged,  they  did  the  same." 

As  we  were  sitting  there,  three  veiled  figures 
came  in,  kissed  Fatima  on  both  cheeks,  and  were 
introduced  to  me.  They  took  off  the  piece  of 
white  chiffon  that  veiled  their  faces,  untied  the 
black  cape-like  harborah  that  covered  the  head 
and  shoulders,  slipped  off  their  outside  skirts  and 
stood  arrayed  in  gorgeous  galabeighs  or  house 
dresses.  One  was  of  pink  silk,  one  of  canary  satin, 
and  the  third  was  a  light  blue.  They  were  elabo- 
rately trimmed  about  the  neck  and  shoulders  with 
lace  and  gold  passementerie,  and  had  a  train  that 


230         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


swept  the  floor  as  they  walked.  Their  hair,  braided 
in  two  braids  hanging  down  the  back  like  that  of 
our  schoolgirls,  was  partially  covered  with  veils  of 
spangled  net  that  hung  nearly  to  the  waist. 

These  friends  of  Fatima  settled  themselves  upon 
the  low  divan  in  front  of  the  window,  took  the 
coffee  from  the  serving  maid,  talked  and  gesticulated, 
making  their  bracelets  tinkle  as  they  waved  their 
little  arms  in  the  air.  They  spoke  no  English,  but 
Fatima  interpreted  for  them,  and  I  could  see  that 
they  were  very  curious  about  me. 

I,  luckily,  had  on  some  jewellery  that  is  generally 
reserved  for  dinner  parties,  for  I  had  learned  that 
when  calling  upon  Egyptian  ladies  it  is  as  well  to 
wear  as  much  jewellery  as  one  can  and  still  preserve 
one's  self-respect.  Eastern  women  cannot  under- 
stand not  wearing  jewels  if  fortunate  enough  to 
possess  such  tangible  proofs  of  a  husband's  esteem. 

One  of  the  guests,  a  girl  not  more  than  seventeen, 
was  specially  gay  and  jolly,  as  it  was  her  first 
visit  for  a  year.  She  had  married  into  a  family 
or  clan  who  did  not  permit  a  woman  to  leave  the 
house  of  her  husband  until  the  first  child  was  born. 
Her  son  was  now  a  couple  of  months  old,  and  she 
was  again  peeping  into  the  outside  world,  which  had 
been  so  completely  closed  to  her  for  more  than  a 


GOSSIP  IN  THE  HAREM  231 


year.  She  was  wildly  excited  at  the  thought  that 
she  was  going  to  the  opera,  where  she  would  hear 
Faust  sung  in  Arabic.  She  would  sit  behind  a 
lattice  that  would  effectually  screen  her  from  the 
public,  but  allowed  her  to  see  all  that  was  going  on 
in  the  house  as  well  as  on  the  stage. 

As  the  carts  came  to  the  house  opposite,  all 
crowded  close  to  the  window,  the  mother  and  three 
or  four  servants  taking  as  active  an  interest  in  the 
contents  of  the  tiny  Wagons  as  did  the  girls.  They 
commented  upon  the  arrangement,  and  admired 
the  fiance's  knowledge  of  the  smart  shops  on  the 
Kaiser  en  Nil,  as  boxes  with  long  ribbon-streamers 
were  taken  inside  the  house,  plainly  showing  that 
they  came  from  the  French  shops  that  understand 
catering  for  the  Europeanized  Egyptian.  They 
discussed  the  social  position  of  the  fiance  and  of 
his  bride-to-be,  and  of  their  relations  even  to  the 
third  generation,  and  one  could  plainly  see  that 
here,  as  well  as  in  the  social  life  of  the  Western 
world,  the  question  of "  family  "  and  "  being  smart  " 
and  "  who's  who,"  was  a  most  important  one. 

One  of  the  girls  told  me  she  would  have  her 
mother  send  me  an  invitation  for  a  party  which 
she  was  giving  for  her  friends,  all  of  the  old  type 
of  Egyptian  woman.  She  laughed,  "  Perhaps  you 
11 


232 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT1 


may  not  like  it,  as  after  dinner  the  Koran  is  to  be 
chanted  by  blind  men."  I,  of  course,  was  delighted 
to  be  able  to  see  this  form  of  entertainment  of 
which  I  had  heard  so  much. 

On  the  appointed  evening,  about  six  o'clock,  a 
carriage  came  for  me  and  I  was  driven  to  the  house, 
where  I  found  Fatima,  who  was  to  act  as  guide  and 
interpreter.  There  were  about  thirty  women  in 
all,  mostly  relatives  of  the  hostess.  We  were 
taken  into  a  large  room  lighted  by  brass  lamps 
hanging  by  chains  from  the  ceiling.  We  had  dropped 
our  slippers  at  the  entrance  of  the  room  and  were 
seated  on  divans.  These  divans  were  wide  and 
comfortable  and  covered  with  mattresses  made  of 
cotton  or  wool,  over  which  was  thrown  a  rug.  The 
women  who  are  strict  followers  of  the  Prophet 
will  not  buy  foreign  mattresses  for  these  lounging 
places,  although  they  are  more  comfortable,  for 
fear  that  they  will  be  contaminated  by  using 
something  containing  the  hair  of  that  hated  animal, 
the  pig. 

Some  of  the  women  were  smoking  water-pipes, 
and  others  cigarettes.  Coffee  was  passed  and  a 
sweet  sherbet.  After  a  time  low  stands,  with  large 
brass  trays  on  them,  were  brought  in,  and  the  food 
was  placed  upon  them.    A  servant  came  with  a 


A  LADIES'  PARTY 


238 


brass  ewer  and  basin,  water  was  poured  over  the 
hands  of  each  guest,  and  dried  upon  a  towel  offered 
by  another  servant.  Then  we  took  our  places 
around  the  trays,  sitting  upon  the  floor.  There 
were  seven  people  to  a  table,  and  it  was  very 
sociable.  The  food  consisted  of  mutton  cooked 
in  many  ways,  chicken,  rice,  and  vegetables.  After 
the  meat  courses  were  removed  a  great  many  sweets 
were  served,  things  of  Turkish  origin  prevailing. 
Coffee  was  served,  the  ewers  were  again  passed 
around,  the  hands  cleansed,  and  we  rose  to  go  into 
the  courtyard,  where  the  chanting  was  to  take 
place. 

It  was  a  very  pretty  courtyard  with  a  tall  palm- 
tree  in  the  corner,  a  fountain  in  the  centre,  deep 
divans  around  the  sides,  and  a  room  opening  from 
one  end  with  only  arches  to  act  as  partitions.  In 
this  room  were  the  singers,  and  we  arranged  our- 
selves facing  them,  some  sitting  on  mats  on  the 
floor,  some  on  the  divans.  The  servants — and 
they  seemed  innumerable — grouped  themselves  at 
the  back,  and  all  prepared  to  listen  to  the  words 
of  their  sacred  book.  The  chief  singer  chanted  a 
line,  then  the  rest  took  it  up  in  a  Greek  chorus 
effect,  and  it  was  very  beautiful.  It  lasted  for 
at  least  an  hour  and  a  half,  every  one  listening 


234         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


most  respectfully,  then  the  singers  rose,  bowed  to 
the  ladies  and  were  led  away. 

After  they  were  gone,  chatting  commenced  again, 
pipes  were  brought,  coffee  was  served.  Soon  maids 
brought  harboroughs,  skirts  were  donned,  veils 
were  put  over  the  faces,  and  each  woman,  with 
her  attendant  maid,  was  taken  to  her  carriage 
and  departed.  No  man,  not  even  a  male  servant, 
had  taken  part  in  the  performance,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  blind  men  who,  of  course,  did  not 
count,  as  they  could  not  look  upon  the  unveiled  faces. 

I  asked  if  that  was  an  unusual  form  of  enter- 
tainment, and  was  told  that  it  was  a  very  popular 
means  of  entertaining  friends,  as  their  religion  is 
closely  associated  with  every  act  of  a  pious  Mo- 
hammedan, and  it  does  not  seem  incongruous  to 
them  to  chant  their  scriptures  as  we  would  present 
a  theatrical  entertainment. 

There  is  always  a  certain  amount  of  entertaining 
on  the  birth  of  a  child  to  an  Egyptian  family.  At 
about  the  seventh  day  invitations  are  sent  to  all 
friends  and  relatives,  and  every  one,  with  a  present 
of  some  kind  in  his  hand,  goes  to  the  home  of  the 
new  arrival.  A  dinner  is  served,  and  several 
hours  are  passed  in  the  joyous,  unconventional, 
amusements  of  the  Eastern  woman.    Postures  are 


BIRTHS  AND  DEATHS  235 


more  lax,  and  language  is  often  a  little  more  daring 
than  it  would  be  to  women  who  did  not  know  that 
they  were  absolutely  free  from  the  intrusion  of  a 
man.  They  fully  understand  that  no  man,  the 
husband  of  the  hostess,  or  any  male  relative,  would 
dare  to  come  into  the  woman's  quarters  when  she 
was  entertaining  guests.  On  these  joyous  occasions 
when  births  or  weddings  are  celebrated,  great 
crowds  of  beggars  come  to  the  doorways  and  are 
given  food. 

Funerals  cannot  be  placed  under  the  head  of 
amusements,  but  the  calls  of  condolence  are  often 
a  break  in  the  monotonous  lives  of  these  women 
who  so  rarely  go  from  their  homes.  On  the  third 
day  after  a  death,  the  fortieth,  and  on  each  anni- 
versary, special  services  are  held  in  the  homes  from 
which  some  one  has  departed. 

Another  place  of  meeting  with  each  other  is 
the  cemetery,  where  the  women  go  on  certain  days 
to  pray  by  the  grave  of  a  loved  one,  although  this 
is  generally  confined  to  the  members  of  the  family. 
Yet  often  friends  meet  there,  and,  after  the  prayers 
and  duties  performed  for  the  dead,  they  sit  and  have 
a  good  visit  with  the  living.  Ladies  go  in  their 
carriages  or  automobiles,  and  the  more  common 
people  in  the  donkey-carts  that  one  sees  in  every 


236 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


street  in  Cairo  carrying  their  loads  of  veiled  black 
figures. 

In  the  olden  days,  especially  before  the  advent 
of  the  modernized  woman,  one  of  the  chief  delights 
of  the  women's  quarters  was  the  merchant  from 
the  bazaars  who  brought  to  the  homes  the  rich 
silks  and  satins,  the  gold  and  silver  embroideries, 
the  bangles  of  heavy  gold,  and  the  anklets,  ear- 
rings, and  necklaces  with  which  the  Egyptian 
woman  so  freely  decks  herself.  Then,  and  even 
now,  a  conservative  woman  does  not  frequent  the 
shops.    They  must  come  to  her. 

The  goods  are  always  brought  into  the  harems 
by  a  woman,  and  one  of  her  chief  stocks-in-trade  is 
that  of  being  an  entertaining  gossip.  The  goods 
are  laid  upon  a  rug  in  a  large  room  or  court,  the 
mother  of  the  household  sits  in  front  of  them, 
with  all  the  women  of  the  place  grouped  around 
her,  admiring,  fingering,  chattering,  and  gossiping. 
They  hear  from  the  vender  what  has  happened  in 
the  other  harems,  who  is  betrothed,  who  married, 
if  the  marriage  is  successful,  the  amount  of  the 
dowry,  the  financial  standing  of  the  husband,  the 
jewels  of  the  wife ;  they  learn  who  is  divorced 
and  where  the  stork  has  alighted  since  the  pur- 
veyor of  news  was  last  at  the  house.    It  takes  hours. 


2  37 


SHOPPING  IN  THE  HAREM  239 


and  often,  like  her  Western  sister,  the  ladies  of 
the  harem  simply  "shop"  and  the  goods  are 
taken  away  the  same  as  they  came. 

For  ladies  living  in  Cairo  or  near  a  canal,  boat 
excursions  are  often  taken.  A  lady  invites  her 
friends,  and  they  go  on  their  houseboat,  closely 
veiled  until  within  the  cabin,  where  the  veils  are 
removed,  and  they  slowly  drift  up  or  down  the 
river,  eating  innumerable  sweets,  and  drinking 
altogether  too  much  Turkish  coffee.  They  discuss 
their  friends  and  their  friends'  friends,  as  only 
women  will  when  they  have  no  definite  objective 
in  life,  and  live  simply  from  day  to  day. 

A  few  of  the  more  progressive  ladies  are  trying 
to  start  women's  clubs  in  Cairo.  There  are  one 
or  two  associations  who  meet  mainly  for  a  charitable 
cause,  and  at  the  yearly  charity  bazaar  the  harem 
ladies  of  Cairo  can  be  found  in  great  numbers  on 
the  days  set  apart  for  them.  A  noted  suffragette 
leader  visited  Cairo  and  tried  to  interest  its  women 
in  "  Votes  for  Women,"  but  her  arguments  fell  on 
deaf  ears,  as  the  Egyptian  woman  can  hardly  as 
yet  conceive  of  a  state  of  affairs  where  ladies 
would  really  care  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
work  of  the  outside  world,  coming  in  contact  with 
men  in  a  public  manner. 


240  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


They  are  true  women  of  the  home,  which  they 
feel  is  their  sphere,  and,  in  fact,  whatever  we  may 
hear  in  regard  to  the  shut-in  women,  we  must 
confess  that  in  the  home  they  are  supreme.  They 
are  much  more  powerful  than  we  think,  and  wield 
a  stronger  influence  upon  the  men  than  perhaps 
do  we  of  the  Western  world.  For  one  thing, 
within  the  average  home  there  are  so  many  women, 
relatives  and  their  relatives,  servants,  etc.,  that 
if  the  feminine  sentiment  is  against  a  man  he  has 
a  very  bad  time.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  passive 
resistance  that  is  quite  as  effective  as  armed  war- 
fare, and  the  women  of  the  East  know  how  to  use 
this  weapon  in  all  its  subtleties.  It  is  a  very 
strong-minded  man  who  can  resist  the  injured 
looks  and  unhappy  faces  of  a  host  of  women.  If, 
in  addition  to  her  mother  and  her  sisters  and  her 
servants,  the  clever  wife  can  enlist  the  sympathy 
of  her  mother-in-law  and  the  divers  and  sundry 
women  of  her  husband's  family,  the  man  may  as 
well  give  up.  He  is  overpowered  by  the  sheer 
weight  of  numbers,  and  the  only  course  for  him  is 
to  acquiesce  in  whatever  demands  are  made,  then 
leave  his  place  of  defeat  and  hie  himself  to  a  coffee- 
house where,  over  his  water-pipe,  he  may  soothe 
his  ruffled  feelings  and  find  peace. 


AMUSEMENTS  IN  THE  HAREM  241 


It  is  hard  to  say,  outside  of  the  little  social  life 
among  relatives  and  a  few  friends,  what  are  the 
amusements  of  the  Egyptian  lady.  She  sings,  she 
generally  plays  some  musical  instrument — now  it 
is  the  piano  for  the  educated  girl,  and  in  nearly 
every  house  of  means  is  found  the  Victrola, 
with  songs  in  Arabic  and  English,  French  and 
Italian.  In  Cairo  she  has  much  more  opportunity 
of  being  gay,  as  she  can  go  to  the  theatre,  the 
opera,  and  even  on  little  shopping  tours  to  the  big 
European  shops  or  to  the  tiny  bazaars  in  the  native 
quarter.  In  the  smaller  cities  and  the  villages  she 
is  restricted  to  the  fetes  and  festivities  of  her  social 
sphere. 

There  are  many  magazines  and  papers,  novels 
and  books  of  every  kind  printed  in  Arabic,  for  the 
woman  who  has  not  advanced  far  enough  to  read 
those  in  French  or  English,  and  now,  when  educa- 
tion for  the  woman  has  become  such  a  fetish  in 
Egypt,  these  popular  educators  are  found  in  every 
home.  If  the  mother  cannot  read  them — and  few  of 
the  women  of  the  older  day  can  read — the  daughter 
and  the  grand-daughters  can  read  to  them  the 
news  of  the  world,  and  there  are  few  women  who 
have  not  at  least  a  superficial  knowledge  of  what  is 
passing  outside  their  walls, 


CHAPTER  XI 


HOSPITALITY 

H.  C.  TRUMBULL,  in  his  book,  Studies  in 
Oriental  Social  Life,  quotes  an  incident 
given  by  War  burton  as  illustrating  to  what 
lengths  the  Arab  of  the  desert  will  go  in  his  ideas 
of  hospitality,  even  when  the  guest  is  an  enemy.  It 
dated  from  the  days  of  the  conflict  in  Egypt  between 
the  Mameluke  Beys  and  Mohammed  Ali  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  A  Bedouin  chief 
was  seeking  the  life  of  Elfy  Bey,  the  deadly  enemy 
of  his  friend  and  ally  Osman.  During  the  absence 
of  the  chief  from  his  tent  Elfy  Bey  entered  it 
boldly,  and  hastily  ate  some  bread  which  he  found 
there.  The  chief's  wife,  recognizing  the  stranger 
guest,  said,  "  I  know  you  are  Elfy  Bey,  and  my 
husband's  life,  perhaps,  at  this  moment  depends 
upon  his  taking  yours.  Rest  now  and  refresh 
yourself,  then  take  the  best  horse  you  can  find  and 
fly.    The  moment  you  are  out  of  our  horizon  and 

242 


243 


ARAB  HOSPITALITY  245 


the  sun  is  above  it,  the  tribe  will  be  in  pursuit  of 
you." 

When  this  story  reached  the  ears  of  Osman  he 
demanded  of  the  old  chief  if  his  wife  had  really 
saved  the  life  of  their  deadliest  foe.  "  Most  true, 
praise  be  to  Allah,"  replied  the  chief,  drawing  himself 
proudly  up  and  presenting  a  jewelled  dagger  to  the 
Bey.  "  This  weapon,"  he  continued,  "  was  your 
gift  to  me  in  the  hour  of  your  favour.  Had  I  met 
Elfy  Bey  it  would  have  freed  you  from  your 
enemy.  Had  my  wife  betrayed  the  hospitality  of 
the  tent,  it  would  have  drunk  her  blood.  Now  it 
is  yours  again.  If  you  will,  you  may  use  it  against 
me."    And  the  Arab  flung  it  at  the  Mameluke's  feet. 

This  is  not  an  exaggerated  idea  of  hospitality 
as  understood  and  practised  to-day  by  the  people 
of  the  tents,  where  that  virtue  is  far  more  reaching 
in  its  scope  and  exacting  in  its  obligations  than 
anything  which  we  understand  by  that  name  in 
the  West.  The  idea  of  true  hospitality  is  indicated 
in  the  Oriental  proverb,  "  Every  stranger  is  an 
invited  guest,  and  the  guest  while  in  the  house  is 
the  lord  thereof." 

This  welcoming  of  the  stranger  and  the  traveller 
as  well  as  the  friend  is  practised  by  all  Eastern 
races,  but  if  one  is  to  see  and  understand  what  the 


246  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


word  "  welcome  "  really  means  he  should  go  to  the 
Arab  of  the  desert.  There  hospitality  is  prac- 
tised in  all  its  purity,  according  to  the  traditions 
of  these  high-strung,  impulsive,  restless  people, 
who,  with  their  emotional  temperament,  give  im- 
petuosity to  the  more  sluggish,  lethargic  Egyptian, 
communicating  some  of  their  ceaseless  energy  to 
everything  with  which  they  come  in  contact. 
"  As  calm  as  an  Arab  "  is  not  a  true  description  of 
these  desert  people.  They  are  nervous,  high-strung, 
restless,  adventurous,  and  they  have  absorbed  these 
characteristics  into  their  very  being  until  they  have 
become  permanent  marks  of  their  race.  In  France, 
wherever  there  exist  centres  of  strife,  they  say, 
"  Look  for  the  woman  M  ;  in  North  Africa  and  Egypt 
it  is  "  Look  for  the  Arab." 

That  the  Arab  is  not  an  empire-builder  is  un- 
questioned. But  certain  historians  pervert  the 
truth  when  they  tell  us  that  the  effects  of  the  Arab 
are  always  sinister,  that  they  bring  all  countries 
which  they  have  inhabited,  and  in  which  they  have 
been  permitted  to  run  their  course,  to  ruin.  They 
say  the  Bedouin  is  the  author  of  complete  desola- 
tion, and  quote  the  gradual  obliteration  of  Roman 
and  Byzantine  civilization  dating  from  the  Arab 
conquest  of  the  seventh  century. 


THE  RESTLESS  ARAB  247 


It  is  claimed  by  these  same  historians  that  the 
root  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  instinctive  repug- 
nance of  the  Arab  for  anything  in  the  nature  of 
habit,  routine,  a  settled  existence,  a  fixed  round 
of  duties.  He  will  not  indulge  in  industry  and 
enterprise  that  impede  his  liberty  and  freedom  in 
any  manner.  He  is  not  practical,  does  not  reason,  is 
swayed  purely  by  his  emotions  and  his  sentiment. 
He  will  throw  his  life  away  with  a  bravado  that 
causes  the  people  of  more  sluggish  blood  to  gasp 
in  astonishment  for  a  cause  that  appeals  to  his 
emotions,  but  he  will  not  harness  those  emotions 
or  this  wonderful  energy  to  anything  productive. 
He  is  religious  when  his  religion  appeals  to  his 
imagination,  as  does  the  religion  of  Mohammed. 
None  save  these  Arabs  have  succeeded  in  pro- 
pagating the  faith  of  El  Islam,  and  every  move- 
ment of  revival  comes  direct  from  the  desert. 

To  see  the  Bedouin  one  must  go  to  his  home  and 
see  him  in  his  native  tents.  There  are  Bedouins 
in  the  cities,  and  one  soon  learns  to  distinguish 
them,  with  their  keen  eyes,  eager  faces,  and  majestic 
stride,  from  the  more  contemplative,  quiescent 
Egyptian.  But  in  the  city  he  is  not  his  true  self, 
it  is  among  the  shifting  sands  of  the  desert  that 
these  fascinating  people  are  at  their  best.  There 


248         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  Bedouin  carries  out  his  tribal  customs,  and 
there  one  realizes  that  it  is  true  that  the  virtue 
of  hospitality  is  the  first  and  greatest  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Arab.  To  share  food  and  drink  with  another 
is  to  covenant  with  him  in  amity  for  the  period  of 
his  stay  as  a  guest  in  the  domain  of  his  host.  Even 
to  give  a  drink  of  water  to  a  guest  is  to  recognize 
that  he  is  worthy  of  peaceable  reception,  while  to 
partake  of  salt  is  to  enter  into  a  brotherhood. 

Mohammed  enjoins  the  duty  of  hospitality  on 
his  followers  as  indicative  of  their  state  of  heart 
before  the  all-seeing  God.  "  Whoever,"  he  says, 
"  believes  in  God  and  the  resurrection,  must  respect 
his  guest ;  and  the  time  of  his  being  kind  to  him 
is  one  day  and  one  night ;  and  the  period  of  enter- 
taining him  is  three  days  ;  and  after  that  if  he  does 
it  longer,  it  benefits  him  more,  but  it  is  not  right 
for  a  guest  to  stay  in  the  house  of  a  host  so  long 
as  to  incommode  him." 

Tourists  passing  through  Egypt  hear  and  read 
of  these  people  who  appeal  so  to  the  imagination, 
and  around  whom  are  woven  the  romances  and 
legends  dear  to  the  Western  heart,  and  often  with 
a  dragoman  they  make  trips  to  the  desert,  living  in 
their  hired  tents,  eating  the  same  food  they  would 
at  Shepheard's  Hotel,  doing  the  thing  that  x  the 


249 


A  BEDOUIN  CHIEF'S  INVITATION  251 


dragoman  thinks  would  appeal  to  the  foreigner, 
and  seeing  the  desert  through  the  eyes  of  this 
clever  showman,  who  makes  everything  picturesque 
if  it  is  not  already  made  so  by  nature.  He  is 
determined  that  his  people  will  feel  they  have 
wisely  invested  their  five  pounds  per  day  in  desert 
scenery,  even  if  he  has  to  import  his  Bedouins 
from  the  neighbouring  villages.  But  we  were  long 
enough  in  Egypt  to  know  that  that  was  not  the 
way  to  see  the  desert  nor  its  people,  and  we  were 
delighted  when  we  received  an  invitation  from  a 
chief  of  a  Bedouin  tribe  to  pass  several  days  with 
him  at  his  castle  on  the  edge  of  the  desert. 

We  found  a  carriage  awaiting  us  at  the  train — 
in  fact  a  servant  of  the  household  had  met  us  in 
the  railway  carriage  several  stations  before  our 
ultimate  destination,  assuring  us  in  various  signs 
and  gestures  mixed  with  Arabic  and  salaams,  that 
we  would  be  very  much  welcome  at  the  castle  of 
nis  chief.  We  drove  for  miles  across  the  well- 
irrigated  lands,  dotted  with  the  variegated  gowns 
of  the  Fellaheen  cutting  the  wheat  with  the 
old-fashioned  sickle,  the  donkey  trotting  along 
under  his  burden  of  bersein,  while  here  and  there 
at  the  doors  of  the  mud  huts  women  and  children 
peered  at  us  from  their  half-veiled  faces.    We  saw 


252         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


everywhere  pictures  that  might  well  have  be- 
longed to  the  time  of  the  Old  Testament,  women 
grinding  at  the  mill,  the  water  buffalo  yoked 
with  a  camel  drawing  a  crooked  stick  for  a  plough 
— it  was  all  weird  and  strange  to  Western  eyes. 

But  the  "  tent  "  which  our  romantic  soul  had 
pictured  was  a  very  creditable  brace  of  modern 
buildings  which  might  have  been  found  in  a  well- 
ordered  community  in  Southern  France  or  Vir- 
ginia. To  be  sure  the  buildings  were  surrounded 
by  a  wall  from  over  which  the  tall  palm-trees  peered 
to  remind  us  that  we  were  in  Egypt ;  the  court- 
yard into  which  we  drove  was  austere  and  barren 
almost  as  the  sands  of  the  desert  which  we  could 
see  in  the  distance ;  but  to  say  that  we,  who  had 
imagined  ourselves  living  like  nomads,  sleeping  on 
the  sand  beneath  the  black  tents  of  the  desert 
people,  were  surprised  at  the  modern  sumptuousness 
of  the  habitation  that  confronted  us,  poorly  expresses 
our  impression. 

As  we  drove  into  this  semi-royal  enclosure  of  the 
really  sovereign  potentate  who  rules  with  no  mean 
government  thousands  of  Bedouins  scattered  through 
Egypt  and  Tripoli,  we  were  greeted  by  men  of  vary- 
ing ages  and  degrees  of  distinction,  all  members  of 
this  important  tribe  which  boasts  of  nine  hundred 


THE  CHIEF'S  RESIDENCE  253 


years  of  ancestry,  and  which  had  originally  come 
from  Arabia,  the  native  land  of  the  Bedouin. 

Our  host  came  to  the  carriage  and  welcomed  us 
in  French,  and  with  him  his  cousin,  who  spoke 
English.  The  chief  was  a  tall  man  of  about  thirty- 
five  years  of  age,  very  handsome,  in  his  dark  dashing 
way.  He  was  beautifully  clothed  in  an  underdress 
of  striped  silk,  lavender  and  white,  it  only  showing 
at  the  long  cuffs  and  where  it  was  folded  over  in 
front.  Over  that  he  had  a  long  flowing  gown  of  a 
darker  shade  of  lavender,  and  over  it  all  the  black 
cloak  of  the  Egyptian.  On  his  head  was  the  red  tar- 
boosh with  a  large  blue  tassel  in  it .  His  head  was  not 
bound  with  the  white  turban  of  the  Mohammedan, 
although  he  is  a  very  strict  follower  of  the  Prophet. 

He  conducted  us  through  a  big  gateway  to  the 
house,  which  was  a  rambling  two-storied  affair, 
with  many  rooms  and  courts,  as  I  afterwards  found. 
In  the  reception-room,  which  was  furnished  in  French 
fashion,  we  sat  down,  feeling  rather  stiff  and  formal. 
The  host  said,  "  I  wish  to  welcome  you  and  say  my 
house  is  yours.  Please  consider  yourself  as  if  you 
were  in  your  own  home."  Soon  coffee  was  served, 
and  we  found  that  coffee  is  the  prelude  to  all  social 
intercourse  in  Egypt,  and  especially  with  these 
hospitable  Bedouins. 
12 


254  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


After  a  few  moments'  conversation  a  servant 
entered  the  room  and  said  Madame  awaited  her 
guest  in  the  harem.  That  magic  word  harem  of 
which  travellers  hear  so  much  while  journeying  in 
an  Eastern  country,  and  into  which  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  penetrate,  gave  me  a  slight  thrill.  My 
host  excused  himself  to  my  husband,  turning  him 
over  to  the  cousin  for  entertainment,  and  we  fol- 
lowed the  servant  into  a  courtyard  and  through 
another  gateway  into  a  garden,  then  passed  out  of 
the  sunlight  into  a  cool  dark  room,  empty  except 
for  a  great  water-jar  which  was  standing  in  the 
draught  to  cool  the  water  by  evaporation. 

At  an  archway  was  standing  a  lady  dressed  most 
exquisitely  in  a  modern  French  dress,  with  a  neck- 
lace of  diamonds  and  emeralds,  diamonds  in  her 
ears,  innumerable  bracelets  and  rings.  She  came  to 
me  and  said  in  English  with  just  a  trace  of  accent, 
"It  is  so  nice  of  you  to  come  to  me."  She  was 
very,  very  pretty,  had  a  most  jolly  laugh,  and  all 
my  fears  went  away  at  once.  She  was  simply  a 
happy  girl,  wanting  to  be  amused  and  often  finding 
the  days  long  within  the  four  walls  of  the  harem. 

We  went  upstairs  to  a  sitting-room  furnished  in 
European  manner  and  had  tea.  The  husband  left 
us,  and  in  fact  I  saw  very  little  of  him,  except  from 


THE  BEDOUIN'S  WIFE  AT  HOME  255 


a  distance,  as  he  was  a  very  busy  man,  attending 
to  his  estate  or  discharging  the  innumerable  duties 
that  arose  in  regard  to  the  travellers  who  made  his 
outer  courtyard  their  resting-place  in  travelling  from 
one  part  of  the  desert  to  another.  This  guest- 
house was  always  filled  with  men  who  were  enter- 
tained free  of  charge  by  their  chief.  There  were 
seldom  less  than  twenty  enjoying  the  hospitality 
of  their  host.  Many  of  the  visitors  were  on  their 
way  to  Tripoli,  thirty  days  by  camel,  and  my  host 
told  me  that  much  of  their  conversation  was  in 
regard  to  the  war  in  progress  between  Italy  and 
Turkey,  in  which  many  members  of  their  tribe  were 
fighting. 

In  regard  to  this  war  and  the  Bedouins  in  Egypt, 
an  amusing  instance  is  narrated  which  reveals  Lord 
Kitchener's  mingled  powers  of  strategy  and  resource- 
fulness when  certain  chiefs  of  Bedouin  tribes  went 
to  him  expressing  a  desire  to  gather  a  large  force  of 
their  brethren  and  join  in  guerrilla  warfare  against 
Italy.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Egyptian 
dreads  more  than  all  else  conscription  in  the  army, 
and  the  Bedouins  have  been  exempt  from  service 
as  soldiers.  Upon  receiving  this  announcement  from 
these  particular  chiefs,  the  soldier  of  Khartoum 
faced  these  men  of  the  desert  solemnly,  saying  that 


256  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


he  was  sorry  that  he  had  heretofore  overlooked  their 
warlike  and  soldierly  propensities,  that  he  would 
immediately  see  that  Egypt  did  not  lose  such  heroes 
thirsting  for  glory  upon  the  battlefield,  but  would 
have  them  all  enrolled  at  once  in  the  Egyptian  Army 
under  the  same  terms  as  the  Fellaheen.  It  was 
stated  that  the  dust  that  rose  from  beneath  the 
flying  feet  of  those  Bedouin  chiefs  was  like  unto  that 
which  rolls  over  Egypt  from  a  thick  khamseen, 
the  wind  that  blows  in  blinding  clouds  the  sands 
from  the  desert. 

But  these  Bedouins  must  not  be  thought  of  as 
mere  wanderers  in  the  desert.  They  are,  as  far  as 
their  leaders  are  concerned,  men  of  business,  some- 
times owning  large  estates  and  competing  with  the 
most  advanced  Egyptians  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
This  chief  was  not  only  a  great  landowner  and  a 
business  man,  but  he  was  also  a  ruler  and  a  judge. 
Members  of  his  tribe  bring  to  him  all  kinds  of  cases, 
and  his  modern  Bedouin  tent  is  often  converted 
into  a  tribunal.  The  case  may  be  of  murder,  because 
these  passionate  sons  of  the  desert  still  hold  to  the 
law  of  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  and  a  life  for  a  life,  and 
feuds  are  carried  on  until  blood  has  been  paid  by 
blood.  I  heard  it  said  as  quite  a  natural  thing, 
when  speaking  of  the  murder  of  a  man,  "  Of  course 


A  CHIEF'S  DUTIES  257 


his  son  must  avenge  his  death.' '  In  the  olden  time 
the  price  of  the  life  of  a  man  was  a  certain  number 
of  camels,  that  of  a  woman  half  the  number  of 
animals.  To-day  the  chief  decides  the  price  to  be 
paid,  and  his  judgment  is  irrevocable. 

He  is  veritably  the  lord  and  master,  reminding 
one  of  the  old  autocratic  feudal  days.  The  village 
educational,  religious,  and  industrial  life  is  all  under 
his  dominion.  He  supports  the  village  kuttab 
(small  school),  where  the  little  boys  sit  on  the  floor, 
swaying  their  bodies  in  time  with  the  chanting  of 
the  words  of  the  Koran,  which  really  mean  nothing 
to  them,  but  still  it  is  better  than  playing  all  day 
in  the  dusty  alleys,  and  too  soon  they  will  be  com- 
pelled to  watch  the  buffalo,  or  to  help  the  men  in 
the  fields. 

Within  the  harem  is  also  a  travellers'  rest-room 
where  Bedouin  women  who  may  be  journeying  from 
one  part  of  the  land  to  another  may  come  and  stay 
so  long  as  they  wish.  The  lower  quarters  of  the 
part  of  the  house  occupied  by  my  hostess  were 
given  over  to  servants'  rooms,  kitchen,  and  store- 
rooms, and  a  public  dining-room  for  guests.  Above 
were  her  private  rooms,  which  consisted  of  a 
large  entrance  reception-room,  a  sitting-room,  bed- 
and   dressing-room,    all   furnished   in  European 


258  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


fashion,  except  for  the  beautiful  rugs  upon  the 
floors. 

I  stayed  in  the  harem  throughout  the  day  with 
my  hostess,  and  at  night  went  to  the  guest-room  in 
the  selam-lik,  where  I  found  my  husband,  who  had 
spent  the  time  watching  the  work  of  the  estate,  or 
talking  to  the  men  in  the  outer  guest-house,  or,  what 
he  enjoyed,  long  gallops  over  the  hard  sands  on  the 
beautiful  Arabian  horse  that  his  host  had  placed  at 
his  disposal.  In  all  the  time  of  our  visit  he  did  not 
see  his  hostess,  nor  was  she  mentioned  to  him  in 
any  way. 

One  morning  my  hostess,  her  Soudanese  servant, 
who  was  so  black  that  I  could  not  tell  where  her 
black  head-covering  left  off  and  her  face  began, 
and  I  went  to  call  upon  a  Bedouin  camp  a  few  miles 
distant.  As  we  drove  over  the  very  well  made  roads 
I  found  that  all  the  distance  was  practically  owned 
by  the  chief  or  the  members  of  his  family.  The 
farms  were  most  modern — in  one  place  grain  was 
being  threshed  by  a  steam  thresher,  and  in  another  I 
saw  a  steam  plough  in  operation.  These  modern 
machines  looked  queer  beside  the  oxen  that  were  being 
driven  around  and  around  over  the  grain  to  tread  out 
the  wheat.  It  was  the  seventh  and  the  twentieth 
centuries  side  by  side,  and  seemed  incongruous. 


AT  THE  BEDOUINS'  TENTS  259 


As  we  came  to  the  tents,  an  old  lady  came  to  meet 
us,  dressed  in  a  straight  black  gown,  with  a  sash 
twisted  around  her  waist,  and  a  black  handkerchief 
covering  her  hair,  which  was  stained  a  bright  red 
with  henna. 

She  was  most  cordial,  kissed  our  hands,  and  took 
us  to  a  tent,  which  was  at  least  twenty  by  thirty 
feet  in  size.  Around  the  sides  were  piled  rugs,  and 
the  beautiful  hand-woven  blankets  that  constitute 
a  woman's  riches.  Fatima  said  to  me,  "  When  a 
woman  has  half  a  dozen  of  these  blankets  she  is 
well-to-do.  You  see  this  old  lady  has  at  least 
thirty,  she  is  rich."  The  floor  was  covered  with 
rugs,  and  for  our  benefit  some  chairs  had  been 
found. 

I  sat  down  and  looked  at  this  charming  home, 
never  having  imagined  a  tent  could  be  so  spacious. 
The  flap  was  open  on  two  sides,  and  a  strong  wind 
from  the  desert  blew  in,  and  it  was  cool,  although  a 
burning  sun  was  beating  upon  it.  Around  the  sides 
were  draped  the  gaily  coloured  blankets,  striped 
red  and  yellow  and  black.  It  looked  like  a  stage 
setting.  I  asked  if  it  was  ordinarily  so  gaily  decor- 
ated, and  was  told  that  when  no  guests  were  expected 
the  rugs  were  piled  away,  the  hangings  folded, 
and  more  common  everyday  ones  were  used.  Yet 


260  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


even  without  its  trappings  it  must  have  been  an 
ideal  home.  There  was  space  and  air  and  no  furni- 
ture to  dust  and  arrange.  They  sat  upon  the  rug- 
covered  sand,  and  slept  upon  it,  and  the  simple  life 
was  not  a  thing  to  be  read  about  in  books — they 
lived  it. 

A  woman  servant  came  in  with  a  sweetened 
drink,  something  with  rosewater  in  it.  The  hostess 
left  the  tent,  coming  back  with  a  bottle  of  perfume 
which  she  lavishly  sprinkled  over  us,  then  a  small 
brazier  of  sweet-smelling  woods  was  lighted  and 
soon  the  tent  was  filled  with  the  fragrant  smoke. 
Another  drink  was  brought,  then  coffee  with  a 
touch  of  ambergris  was  served. 

All  the  women  of  the  village  came  in,  and  they 
were  dressed  practically  the  same  as  our  hostess, 
except  that  some  of  the  younger  women  had  sashes 
of  brighter  colours.  All  had  veils  over  their  heads, 
but  their  faces  were  not  covered,  all  were  tattooed 
on  the  chin  and  neck  (the  younger  generation  are 
not  doing  this),  all  had  nose-rings,  and,  what  amused 
me  immensely,  all  wore  high-heeled  French  slippers. 
One  could  see  they  were  donned  for  company  and 
cherished  at  other  times,  because  not  even  the  soles 
were  soiled.  The  old  lady  did  not  make  that  con- 
cession to  the  European  dress;  she  had  on  her 


BEDOUIN  CHILDREN 


263 


bare  feet  an  enormous  pair  of  heelless  slippers  which 
were  left  at  the  entrance  of  the  tent  when  she 
entered  it.  The  women  were  covered  with  jewellery : 
in  their  ears  were  big  crescent-shaped  rings,  and 
upon  their  breasts  necklace  upon  neckace  of  heavy 
gold.  They  were  very  good-looking,  held  them- 
selves superbly,  were  not  at  all  self-conscious  nor 
awkward,  and  showed  a  true  courtesy  and  kindness 
that  is  not  surpassed  by  the  Western  woman  of 
society. 

We  were  urged  to  dine  with  them,  and  they  were 
most  indignant  that  we  would  not  at  least  take  one 
meal  with  them,  but  we  were  far  from  home  and 
felt  we  must  not  be  abroad  too  late.  We  visited 
the  other  tents.  They  were  smaller,  in  some  it  was 
impossible  to  stand  upright  except  in  the  centre, 
but  they  were  all  cool,  and  gave  one  the  impression 
of  space  and  air.  In  one  was  a  young  baby  wrapped 
in  a  cloth  around  which  was  twined  many  times  a 
camel'  s-hair  cord,  only  the  tiny  head  and  feet  being 
visible.  I  took  him  in  my  arms  and  his  big  black 
eyes  stared  at  me  blinkingly  for  a  time,  and  then 
the  little  face  broke  into  the  tiny  wrinkles  that 
meant  laughter,  and  he  crowed  and  laughed  at  the 
funny  foreign  woman  who  held  him  so  awkwardly. 
There  were  many  children,  some  with  no  clothes  at 


264  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


all,  some  with  just  a  little  blue  shirt  that  barely 
covered  their  brown  bodies.  They  were  clean  and 
healthy  looking,  a  far  better  type  than  the  average 
Egyptian  child  one  sees  in  the  streets  of  the  cities. 

In  every  tent  was  hung  a  gun,  as  robbers  are  an 
ever-present  evil  in  the  desert.  There  were  also  an 
enormous  army  of  fierce,  bristling  dogs,  that  are 
used  to  guard  the  tents  at  night.  In  fact  no  one 
can  approach  a  Bedouin  encampment  without  being 
met  by  these  fierce  canine  police. 

Our  hostesses  accompanied  us  a  distance  along 
the  road,  and  kissed  our  hands  and  begged  us  to 
come  again,  assuring  me  that  "  My  tent  is  your 
home,  come  to  it  at  any  time."  Their  hospitality 
is  not  prefunctory,  it  seemed  to  come  from  the 
heart.  They  did  not  seem  to  have  acquired  that 
Western  insincerity  of  manner  that  makes  the  social 
life  of  the  Occident  a  matter  of  form  without  any 
reality  in  it.  I  asked,  when  driving  home,  how  much 
was  meant  by  their  kindly,  pressing  invitation  to 
come  to  them,  and  was  told  that  at  any  time,  if  I 
went  there,  I  would  be  made  welcome,  a  sheep  would 
be  immediately  killed  in  my  honour,  the  very  best 
would  be  placed  before  me,  and  the  whole  tribe 
would  unite  to  make  my  stay  as  pleasant  as  possible. 
My  hostess  said  to  me,  "  It  was  typical  of  Bedouin 


A  BEDOUIN  CAMP 


267 


hospitality  when  Abraham,  the  great  man  of  your 
sacred  story,  seeing  the  three  strangers,  had  his 
wife  immediately  make  cakes  and  a  servant  kill  the 
tender  and  good  calf  for  their  dinner,  even  before 
he  knew  who  they  were." 

Within  a  few  miles  of  the  home  of  our  host  was  a 
Bedouin  camp  entirely  untouched  by  civilization. 
Its  women  were  more  free  and  their  customs  were 
not  contaminated  by  proximity  to  Egyptian  neigh- 
bours as  was  the  camp  we  had  lately  visited.  It 
was  necessary  to  go  there  by  camel.  I  had  seen 
many  camels  while  in  the  desert  country,  and  I  often 
wandered  to  the  camel  quarters  of  our  Bedouin 
host.  This  animal  seems  to  belong  by  right  to  a 
circus  and  not  to  a  special  sort  of  inn  set  apart  for 
him.  They  were  kept  in  a  great  courtyard,  where 
some  were  always  being  loaded  for  their  journeys  into 
the  desert,  others  wandered  about  biting  and  growl- 
ing and  looking  as  if  for  them  life  was  a  disappoint- 
ment and  the  world  most  drear. 

Of  all  cantankerous  beasts  a  camel  is  the  most 
noteworthy,  especially  when  you  try  to  establish 
friendly  relations  with  him.  He  puts  up  his  upper 
lip  and  tries  to  bite  you  with  great  yellow  teeth 
that  sadly  need  the  dentist's  care,  or  he  wobbJes 
his  head  around  and  glares  at  you,  wondering  why 


268  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


you  intruded  upon  his  privacy,  until  you  casually 
look  for  the  doorway.  When  he  is  made  to  kneel, 
he  groans  and  gurgles  and  generally  shows  his 
disapproval.  To  make  him  rise  it  takes  a  man  of 
patience  to  cluck  at  him  and  talk  to  him  and  beat 
him  over  the  knees,  before  he  suddenly,  and  much 
to  the  astonishment  of  the  person  upon  his  back, 
rises  on  his  hind  legs  and  tips  his  passenger  forward 
upon  his  neck,  then  unjoints  his  hind  legs  and 
tips  him  back  again.  Miss  Amelia  B.  Edwards, 
in  her  Thousand  Miles  up  the  Nile,  describes  the 
temper  of  the  camel  with  extreme  fidelity  to  facts : 
"  The  camel  has  his  virtues,  so  much  at  least 
must  be  admitted ;  but  they  do  not  lie  upon  the 
surface.  My  Buffon  tells  me,  for  instance,  that  he 
carries  a  fresh-water  cistern  in  his  stomach  ;  which 
is  meritorious.  But  the  cistern  ameliorates  neither 
his  gait  nor  his  temper — which  are  abominable. 
Irreproachable  as  a  beast  of  burden,  he  is  open  to 
many  objections  as  a  steed.  It  is  unpleasant,  in 
the  first  place,  to  ride  an  animal  which  not  only 
objects  to  being  ridden,  but  cherishes  a  strong 
personal  antipathy  to  his  rider.  Such,  however,  is 
his  amiable  peculiarity.  You  know  that  he  hates 
you,  from  the  moment  you  first  walk  around  him, 
wondering  where  and  how  to  begin  the  ascent  of 


THE  CAMEL  AND  HIS  FAULTS  269 


his  hump.  He  does  not,  in  fact,  hesitate  to  tell 
you  so  in  the  roundest  terms.  He  swears  freely 
while  you  are  taking  your  seat ;  snarls  if  you  but 
move  in  the  saddle ;  and  stares  you  angrily  in  the 
face  if  you  attempt  to  turn  his  head  in  any  direction 
save  that  which  he  himself  prefers.  Should  you 
persevere,  he  tries  to  bite  your  feet.  If  biting  your 
feet  does  not  answer,  he  lies  down. 

"  Now  the  lying  down  and  getting  up  of  a  camel 
are  performances  designed  for  the  express  purpose 
of  inflicting  grievous  bodily  harm  upon  his  rider. 
Thrown  twice  forward  and  twice  backward,  punched 
in  his  '  wind  '  and  damaged  in  his  spine,  the  luckless 
novice  receives  four  distinct  shocks,  each  more 
violent  and  unexpected  than  the  last.  For  this 
execrable  hunchback  is  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made.  He  has  a  superfluous  joint  somewhere  in 
his  legs,  and  uses  it  to  revenge  himself  upon  man- 
kind. His  paces,  however,  are  more  complicated 
than  his  joints  and  more  trying  than  his  temper. 
He  has  four :  a  short  walk,  like  the  rolling  of  a 
small  boat  in  a  choppy  sea ;  a  long  walk  which 
dislocates  every  bone  in  your  body ;  a  trot  that 
reduces  you  to  imbecility ;  and  a  gallop  that  is 
sudden  death." 

Yet,  after  reading  all  this,  and  seeing  the  pained 


2t0 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


looks  of  my  friends,  I  was  determined  to  add  this 
new  sensation  to  my  collection  of  experiences.  I 
decided  to  ride  a  camel.  In  my  younger  days 
I  had  seen  a  circus  procession  with  a  fair  and 
beauteous  Queen  of  the  Harem  seated  upon  a  red 
and  gold  dais  placed  aloft  on  a  snow-white  camel's 
back,  and  it  had  filled  my  soul  with  an  ambition. 
Now  a  good  and  kind  Providence  had  placed  me 
in  juxtaposition  to  a  real  camel,  and  I  could  fulfil 
that  ambition. 

In  the  early  morning  a  camel  was  brought  to  the 
doorway.  I  walked  around  him  and  examined 
him  closely.  He  smiled  at  me  with  his  hare-lip, 
which,  if  tales  are  true,  he  obtained  legitimately. 
When  Allah  created  the  first  camel,  he  was  lonely 
and  went  around  moaning  and  groaning  over  his 
fate.  It  was  then  that  the  sour,  dissatisfied  look 
came  to  his  face  that  is  a  distinguishing  mark  of  all 
camels.  Allah  became  sorry  for  him,  seeing  what 
a  fine  disposition  was  being  ruined,  so  he  sent  a 
genie  to  tell  him  that  a  spouse  was  being  created 
for  him.  The  news  delighted  the  lonely  camel  so 
intensely  that  he  smiled  and  smiled  until  he  split 
his  lip,  and  it  has  remained  thus  ever  since. 

This  camel  was  a  true  ship  of  the  desert,  and 
perched  high  on  his  back  was  an  Arabic  saddle  of 


AMATEUR  CAMEL-RIDING  278 


red  leather,  beautifully  embroidered.  I  mounted 
and  was  heaved  upward,  and  when  I  felt  that  I 
would  soon  touch  the  pale  blue  cloud  that  floated 
in  the  sky,  not  so  very  far  above  me,  I  groped  madly 
for  a  place  to  rest  my  feet.  There  was  no  place. 
My  dangling  feet  were  supposed  to  rest  upon  the 
camel's  neck,  where  the  hair  was  worn  off  by  the 
feet  of  a  few  generations  of  riders  who  had  used  it 
for  a  stirrup.  I  was  not  long  enough  and  my  toes 
barely  touched  his  callouses.  The  saddle  swayed 
and  moved,  and  I  clung  to  the  pommel  and  swayed 
and  moved  with  it,  now  forwards,  now  backwards, 
now  sideways  and  then  all  ways  at  once. 

My  friends  mistook  my  looks  of  fear  and  misery 
for  expressions  of  delight  called  forth  by  the  novel 
sensation  of  riding  a  camel.  It  took  time  to  make 
them  understand  that  I  wished  to  descend  from 
this  elongated,  swaying  precipice,  as  I  dared  not 
loosen  my  grip  to  gesticulate.  Finally  I  was  re- 
moved by  piecemeal,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  and  I  sat 
upon  the  ground  and  meditated  upon  the  folly  of 
trying  to  ride  upon  an  Arabian  saddle.  One  must 
be  born  to  it,  as  it  is  not  an  art  that  can  be  acquired 
in  one  generation.  I  found  that  a  saddle  made  of 
two  feed  bags,  thrown  around  the  camel's  hump, 
a  carpet  covering  them  to  give  the  artistic  touch, 


274  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


two  pieces  of  sticks  to  grip  tightly  when  the  up- 
heavals commence,  made  the  proverbial  rocking 
chair  a  thing  to  be  scorned. 

We  went  out  into  the  desert  in  the  early  morning. 
The  brown  sands  stretched  around  us,  with  only  a 
few  tents  in  the  distance  to  make  the  desolation 
less  drear.  From  pictures  one  has  the  idea  that  the 
desert  is  a  flat  stretch  of  sand,  a  brown,  smooth 
surface  stretching  away  to  the  horizon.  In  point 
of  fact,  it  is  all  low  hills  and  mounds,  revealing  the 
action  of  the  winds  on  the  shifting  sand.  Yet  to 
me  it  is  maddening  in  its  monotony.  It  is  always 
the  same,  with  nothing  to  be  seen  unless  by  chance, 
outlined  against  the  sky-line,  a  train  of  camels  with 
their  load  of  dates,  may  be  passing,  or  the  lone 
camel  with  his  Arab  rider,  his  body  moving  forwards 
and  backwards  with  the  ugly  strides  of  his  racer, 
his  eyes  staring  straight  ahead,  his  gun  across  his 
knees,  his  face  seemingly  as  emotionless  and  as 
fixed  as  the  sands  over  which  he  rides,  hurrying  to 
his  home  under  one  of  the  black  tents  seen  in  the 
distance. 

It  is  said  the  Arab  is  not  a  creator,  that  the  man 
of  the  desert  adds  nothing  to  the  world  in  the 
shape  of  art,  literature,  or  science.  Perhaps  it  is 
because  of  the  sameness  of  these  deserts  where  he 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  IN  THE  DESERT  275 


lives,  in  which  there  is  nothing  to  call  forth  the 
imagination. 

After  three  hours'  ride  we  came  to  the  camp. 
These  Bedouin  homes,  with  their  low,  brown  or  black 
tents  made  of  camel's-hair,  are  most  picturesque. 
They  fit  into  the  landscape  and  become  a  part  of 
the  dreariness  around  them.  They  are  so  low  that 
it  is  impossible  to  stand  upright  in  the  average 
one,  even  at  the  ridgepole.  They  boast  of  no 
furniture  at  all.  A  few  baskets  and  jars  in  which 
the  clothing  and  stores  are  kept,  a  camel-hair  rope 
across  one  end  on  which  the  clothing  in  everyday 
use  is  suspended,  some  mats  and  rugs  around  the 
edges  complete  the  furnishing  of  a  Bedouin  home. 
There  are  no  beds.  At  night  a  mat  is  spread  upon 
the  sand,  the  tent-flap,  serving  for  a  door,  is  drawn, 
the  family  wrap  themselves  a  little  tighter  in  their 
long  cloaks  and  sleep,  father,  mother,  and  children 
all  together.  There  is  no  such  word  as  privacy  in 
the  Bedouin  vocabulary.  Their  one  great  blessing 
is  the  wonderfully  clear  air,  and,  if  they  leave  the 
desert  and  go  to  the  city,  they  easily  fall  a  prey  to 
lung  diseases  and  are  ready  victims  of  the  Great 
White  Plague. 

We  ate  with  our  new  friends,  sitting  upon  the  sand 
on  which  had  been  spread  a  beautiful  rug,  made 
13 


276         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


by  the  women.  The  meal  consisted  mainly  of 
mutton,  cooked  with  a  few  vegetables,  all  emptied 
into  a  big  dish,  placed  in  the  centre  of  our  circle. 
We  picked  the  morsel  we  wished  from  the  general 
dish,  with  our  fingers,  placed  it  upon  the  round, 
flat  cake  that  served  as  both  bread  and  plate,  and  I 
tried  to  convey  it  to  my  mouth  as  gracefully  as  I 
could  without  accidents  on  the  way.  The  Arabs  eat 
most  daintily,  using  only  the  thumb  and  first  and 
second  fingers  of  the  right  hand,  never  by  chance 
touching  any  article  of  food  with  the  left  hand, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  unclean.  After  the  meal, 
water  was  poured  over  the  hands  from  a  goolah,  a 
porous  earthen  water-jar,  the  scraps  were  thrown 
to  the  hungry  dogs,  and  delicious  coffee  was  served. 

The  women  of  the  encampment  came  and  went 
as  freely^as  the  men.  They  had  fine  physiques  and 
carried  themselves  beautifully.  They  were  dressed 
practically  the  same  as  the  women  I  had  seen  before, 
straight,  dark  dresses,  with  the  many  coloured 
sash,  back  hair  braided  with  coins,  heavy  ear-rings, 
necklaces  of  gold  and  silver,  and  ankles  and  wrists 
weighted  down  with  bracelets  and  anklets.  They 
were  dark,  but  it  looked  like  the  brown  of  sun, 
and  it  is  a  wonder  that  they  are  not  darker,  exposed 
as  they  are  to  the  burning  sun. 


AN  ARAB  FEAST  279 


While  we  were  dining  with  the  women,  the  chief 
dined  with  the  men,  and  took  the  opportunity  of 
transacting  his  business  with  the  head  men  of  the 
tribe.  I  found  out  afterwards  that  several  men  of 
the  camp  were  going  to  the  war  in  Tripoli.  Some 
of  the  members  of  the  tribe  had  been  killed  by  the 
Italians,  and  their  death  must  be  avenged.  Here 
in  the  desert  a  life  must  be  given  for  one  taken,  an 
enemy  is  not  forgiven  until  the  debt  is  wiped  out 
in  blood. 

There  is  a  story  told  in  the  desert  of  how  in  the 
early  days  the  missions  made  a  convert  from  Moham- 
medanism, the  only  convert  made  among  these 
tribes.  In  a  blood  feud  a  man  was  stabbed.  He 
was  not  killed,  but  lingered  several  days  at  the  home 
of  a  friend,  where  a  missionary  made  regular  visits. 
While  sick  and  lonely,  he  allowed  the  missionary 
to  tell  him  about  the  new  faith,  and  before  his  death 
he  sent  word  to  his  tribe  that  they  must  not  carry 
on  the  feud,  and  asked  the  news  of  his  forgiveness 
to  be  carried  to  his  slayer.  This  was  so  astonish- 
ing that  neither  the  man  who  killed  him  nor  his 
tribe  could  believe  it,  and  secretly  the  enemy  decided 
to  find  out  what  could  have  caused  this  unheard- 
of  thing,  the  forgiveness  of  a  blood  debt.  He 
learned  of  a  religion  that  says,  "  Forgive  your 


280  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


enemies,"  and  became  their  only  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity. 

Here  in  an  Eastern  country  one  can  understand 
many  things  that  were  mere  words  when  read  to 
us  or  told  us  from  the  pulpits  in  our  churches. 
When  living  here  among  a  people  who  believe  in 
an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  we  can 
realize  what  a  wonderful  thing  it  was  for  the  Christ 
who  was  Himself  an  Oriental,  to  say,  "  Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

We  returned  home  when  the  sun  was  setting  and 
saw  the  castle  as  in  a  glory  of  golden  radiance.  Its 
white  roofs  and  green  palm-trees  against  the  crimson 
and  gold  of  the  sky  made  a  never-to-be-forgotten 
picture.  We,  on  our  camels,  might  have  been  of 
the  time  of  Abraham,  but,  to  make  us  realize  that 
we  were  of  the  twentieth  century,  we  saw  far  in 
the  distance,  hurrying  to  be  in  the  city  before  dark- 
ness overtook  them,  a  party  of  English  officials  in 
a  big  French  touring-car. 

Inthe  early evenings,when  the  blaze  of  the  tropical 
sun  was  gone  and  the  night  wind  that  always  heralds 
the  setting  sun  had  come  to  cool  the  burning  sands, 
we  sat  on  the  verandah  of  the  harem  behind  the 
enclosing  moushrabeah  and  watched  the  life  that 
passed  just  outside  the  walls  of  the  compound.  I 


THE  UNCHANGED  EAST  281 


saw  the  stately  camels  with  the  loads  of  grain  upon 
their  backs,  and  perhaps  a  fuzzy  little  one  trying 
to  keep  near  his  mother  ;  saw  the  children  drive 
home  the  cattle  ;  watched  the  little  boys  riding  the 
water  buffaloes  until  they  came  to  the  canal,  then 
spring  off  their  backs  to  allow  them  to  wallow  in 
the  water  that  is  a  necessity  to  these  ugly  animals ; 
saw  the  shepherds  come  in  with  their  sheep,  some- 
times carrying  a  new-born  lamb  in  their  arms, — 
all  the  life  of  the  East  that  seems  to  be  the  living 
pictures  of  the  Bible  scenes  we  looked  at  in  our 
old  family  Bible.  At  night  strange  men  rode  up 
on  their  horses  and  descended  at  the  rest-house. 
They  all  carried  guns,  and  looked  as  if  they 
might  be  Senoussis  who  made  so  much  trouble  in 
Tripoli. 

We  saw  the  men  at  prayer  in  the  fields,  sitting 
by  the  roadside  bending,  bowing,  kneeling,  utterly 
oblivious  of  the  world  that  passed  them  by.  My 
hostess  and  I  had  long  talks  in  the  moonlight, 
sitting  in  the  blessed  breeze  that  makes  life  possible 
in  the  desert,  or  we  sat  around  the  low  brass  tray 
that  served  as  table,  when  we  dined,  discussing 
the  many  things  that  are  of  interest  to  women, 
from  whatever  part  of  the  world  they  may  come. 

We  dined  alone,  her  husband  remaining  in  the 


282  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


selam-lik.  It  would  not  be  polite  for  him  to  dine 
with  her  if  she  had  a  guest,  even  one  who  was  not 
a  Mohammedan  and  forbidden  for  him  to  look 
upon.  More  conservative  men,  she  told  me,  never 
dine  with  their  wives,  but  often  a  husband,  if  he 
has  no  guests,  will  take  his  meals  with  his  family. 
The  custom  of  women  being  alone  at  least  gave 
freedom,  and  offered  me  an  opportunity  to  under- 
stand my  hostess,  as  she  dared  talk  more  freely 
of  the  life  of  an  Egyptian  woman  than  she  would 
have  if  restricted  by  the  presence  of  a  man. 

I  found  her  not  at  all  my  idea  of  an  Eastern 
woman,  shut  within  the  prison  walls  of  a  harem. 
She  had  had  the  opportunity  of  education  in  a 
European  school,  read  papers,  magazines,  and  books. 
She  took  a  keen  intelligent  interest  in  all  the  life 
of  Egypt,  especially  the  political  questions  of  the 
day.  She  was  also  a  devout  Mohammedan  and 
believed  that  the  Koran  held  the  key  to  all  that  was 
best  in  life.  She  was  happy  in  her  seclusion,  and 
did  not  believe  it  was  yet  time  for  Egyptian  women 
to  come  from  out  the  harem. 

She  said  the  life  of  the  woman  of  the  Occident  was 
not  intended  for  the  woman  of  the  Orient.  They 
differ  in  practically  all  respects,  not  only  in  regard 
to  custom  and  tradition,  but  also  in  some  inherent 


WOMEN— EAST  AND  WEST  283 


quality  that  divides  the  two  races,  and  gives  them 
no  common  meeting  ground.  "  We  must  be 
Orientals  for  all  time ;  you  must  be  Occidentals. 
You  would  not  care  to  live  our  life  ;  we  must  not  try 
to  follow  your  customs.  You  have  your  standard 
of  womanhood  ;  we  have  ours.  They  may  differ  in 
the  details,  but  in  the  essentials  they  are  the  same : 
to  be  a  good  wife,  a  good  mother,  and  always  re- 
member the  name  of  Allah." 

The  time  passed  all  too  quickly,  and  soon  the  day 
came  when  I  went  to  the  harem  for  the  last  time, 
to  say  good-bye  to  my  hostess.  As  I  left  her  stand- 
ing at  the  archway,  the  tears  filled  my  eyes.  Per- 
haps I  was  wrong,  perhaps  the  sight  of  the  wonderful 
desert  from  her  closely  shuttered  windows  was 
enough,  perhaps  the  winds  that  came  each  evening 
with  the  setting  of  the  sun  brought  her  all  the  breath 
of  the  outside  world  that  she  wished,  but  it  seemed 
to  me  that  she  ought  to  be  one  with  a  bigger  life 
— that  this  clever,  intelligent  woman  was  too  great 
to  be  shut  within  the  walls  of  a  harem. 

I  do  not  want  to  hold  this  woman  up  as  a  sample 
of  the  Bedouin  woman.  She  was  an  exception,  and  a 
very  great  one.  She  was  the  only  woman  for  miles 
around  who  could  read  or  write ;  she  was  the  only 
woman  who  had  travelled,  most  of  the  Bedouin 


284 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


women  never  leaving  the  camp  to  make  even  a 
short  journey.  The  average  Bedouin  has  not  come 
in  contact  with  the  foreigner  at  all,  has  not  acquired 
his  virtues  nor  his  vices.  They  have  the  simple 
virtues  of  a  primitive  people — kindliness,  unfailing 
courtesy,  and,  most  prominent  of  all,  their  ideal  of 
absolutely  unselfish  hospitality,  which  to  them 
"  covers  a  multitude  of  lesser  sins." 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN  AND  HER  CHILDREN 

IN  the  children  our  parents  return  to  us,  in 
the  children  we  live,"  is  a  saying  in  this 
country  where  the  world  seems  to  revolve 
around  the  child,  especially  the  woman's  world.  To 
be  childless  is  the  greatest  sorrow  that  can  come  to 
an  Egyptian  wife,  and  children,  their  tiny  ills,  their 
food,  their  education,  and  the  interminable  detailing 
of  the  petty  happenings  of  the  life  of  these  rulers 
of  the  home,  seem  to  be  the  all-important  subject  of 
conversation  between  Egyptian  mothers. 

Practically  the  first  question  asked  a  visitor,  after 
salutations  and  inquiries  after  the  health,  is  "  How 
many  children  have  you  ?  "  If  the  guest  is  blessed 
with  a  large  family  she  is  congratulated,  and  told 
she  must  be  very  happy.  If  compelled  to  admit 
that  no  little  ones  have  come  to  lodge  under  her 
rooftree,  she  is  looked  at  sadly,  and  the  kindhearted 
hostess  tries  to  keep  the  pity  from  her  voice,  as  she 

285 


286  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


tells  her  that  perhaps  they  will  come  by  and  by,  or 
recommends  some  famous  place  of  pilgrimage,  or 
dilates  upon  the  efficacy  of  a  favourite  charm.  I 
was  calling  with  a  lady  who  gave  the  foolish  answer 
that  children  would  interfere  with  her  travels.  The 
ladies  exchanged  shocked  glances  with  each  other, 
and  one  turned  to  the  seemingly,  to  them,  abnormal 
woman  and  said,  "  Oh,  travelling  is  pleasant,  but 
not  necessary,  while  children  are,"  and  they 
changed  the  subject. 

This  prayer  for  children  that  goes  up  from  the 
heart  of  every  Moslem  woman  is  for  sons.  "  Sons — 
give  me  sons,"  is  the  cry  of  all  feminine  Egypt. 
They  say  that  the  "  threshold  of  a  house  weeps 
for  forty  days  when  a  girl  is  born."  As  in  all 
countries,  a  woman  is  not  honoured  until  she  bears  a 
male  child.  The  mother  of  daughters  only  may  see 
herself  put  away  for  another  wife,  or  she  may  be 
divorced,  so  to  many  mothers,  in  answer  to  the 
anxious  query,  "  Have  I  borne  a  son  or  daughter  ?  " 
the  answer  "  Daughter  "  brings  only  despair  and 
bitterness. 

This  love  for  boys  is  descended  from  the  old 
tribal  days,  when  the  most  valued  possessions  of 
a  man  were  male  heirs,  men  he  could  add  to  the 
fighting  strength  of  his  tribe.    As  for  the  girl,  it  is 


EGYPTIAN  FAMILY  LIFE  289 


her  destiny  on  reaching  womanhood  to  go  to  a  new- 
home,  and  live  in  submission  to  her  new  parents,  her 
entire  efforts  being  to  further  the  interests  of  her 
husband's  people.  Family  life  has  been  from  time 
immemorial  the  foundation  of  all  Egyptian  life,  and 
the  interest  of  the  family  is  always  greater  than  that 
of  the  individual.  It  is  the  son  who  preserves  the 
family  by  carrying  on  the  name,  and  by  bringing 
his  wife  to  the  father's  house,  perpetuates  that  first 
environment  of  the  human  soul — the  home. 

Yet,  with  this  love  for  the  boy  predominating, 
the  better  class  observe  practically  the  same  cere- 
monies on  the  birth  of  a  girl  as  they  do  for  the  boy. 
When  the  child  is  seven  days  old,  a  feast  is  given  to 
which  all  relatives  and  friends  are  invited.  Presents 
are  brought  for  the  mother  and  the  new  arrival. 
The  midwife  shares  in  the  general  rejoicing,  and  is 
the  recipient  of  gifts  of  money,  and  food  and  money 
are  distributed  to  the  poor,  who  seem  instinctively 
to  know  when  special  rejoicings  are  to  take  place. 
The  children  of  the  family  and  of  the  near  relatives 
hold  lighted  candles,  and  sing  a  special  birth-song, 
as  the  baby  is  carried  from  room  to  room  to  accustom 
it  to  the  house.  Among  the  Bedouins  a  sheep  is 
slain,  but  no  special  feast  is  prepared,  nor  are  friends 
invited. 


290  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


The  Egyptian  mother  is  guided  to  a  great  extent 
in  the  treatment  of  her  children  by  the  laws  laid 
down  in  the  Koran,  as  Mohammed  made  a  great 
many  general  rules  for  the  rearing  of  the  child.  He 
commands  that  the  mother  should  nurse  the  child 
two  years,  and  in  return  he  enjoins  upon  man 
kindness  to  his  mother.  He  says,  "  Moreover  we 
have  enjoined  on  man  to  show  kindness  to  his 
parents.  With  pain  his  mother  beareth  him,  with 
pain  she  bringeth  him  forth,  and  his  bearing  and  his 
weaning  is  thirty  months."  He  also  said  that  the 
child  should  be  ordered  to  say  his  prayers  at  seven 
years  of  age,  and  to  beat  him  if  he  did  not  do  so 
at  ten  years. 

In  the  houses  of  the  rich  the  child,  whether  boy 
or  girl,  remains  almost  constantly  confined  within 
the  harem.  The  daughter  practically  never  leaves 
the  women's  apartments  until  her  marriage,  unless, 
as  is  becoming  the  custom,  especially  in  the  city,  she 
is  allowed  to  go  to  school.  The  boy,  when  he  is 
seven,  either  has  masters  to  commence  his  education 
or  is  sent  to  some  institution  of  learning  such  as 
the  native  kuttab ;  or  perhaps  now  a  Government 
school. 

The  treatment  of  children  by  all  classes  of  women 
is  remarkable  for  its  excessive  indulgence.  From 


A  YOUNG  EGYPTIAN  GIRL. 


291 


EARLY  EDUCATION  293 


the  standpoint  of  a  person  of  the  West  nearly  all 
small  Egyptian  children  are  exceedingly  spoiled. 
Yet,  to  a  certain  extent,  respect  to  parents  is  innate, 
and  disobedience  is  classed  as  one  of  the  greatest  of 
sins.  The  respect  is  shown  more  towards  the  father 
than  the  mother,  and  for  the  fathers  who  follow  the 
Turkish  style  of  education  for  their  sons,  a  certain 
amount  of  formality  is  shown  in  their  attitude 
towards  each  other.  A  son  of  one  of  Turkish  descent 
would  never  sit  in  his  father's  presence  unless  invited, 
nor  would  he  eat  with  his  father  except  upon  special 
invitation.  He  is  supposed  to  stand  when  his  father 
passes,  and  to  kiss  his  hand  in  the  morning  or  when 
he  returns  from  a  journey.  These  customs  are 
followed  by  the  better-class  conservative  Egyptians 
of  to-day.  I  have  a  woman  friend  between  whose 
father  and  herself  is  a  very  deep  affection  and 
camaraderie,  yet  she  always  rises  when  he  enters 
the  room,  and  remains  standing  until  he  tells  her 
to  be  seated,  and  she  respectfully  kisses  his  hand 
when  he  arrives,  and  leaves  her  home. 

The  only  children  one  sees  in  the  streets  are  those 
of  the  very  poor,  who  are  generally  dirty  and  in  rags, 
and  nearly  all  children  of  the  lower  classes  have  some 
form  of  eye  trouble,  owing  mainly  to  ignorance  on 
the  part  of  the  mother.    Water  is  believed  to  be 


294         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


most  injurious  to  the  eyes,  a  new-born  child  not 
being  washed  for  from  eight  to  forty  days  after 
birth,  and  in  some  places,  if  either  the  father  or 
mother  is  suffering  with  any  form  of  skin  disease, 
a  bath  is  considered  fatal.  The  flies  are  allowed  to 
rest  upon  the  baby's  eyes,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most 
pitiful  sights  in  Egypt  to  see  the  helpless  little  one 
trying  to  peer  through  the  swarms  of  flies  that 
cover  its  tiny  face. 

It  is  absolutely  a  survival  of  the  fittest,rand  one 
often  marvels  that  any  children  live  at  all.  Yet 
the  mortality  is  very  great,  some  going  so  far  as  to 
say  that  65  per  cent,  of  the  babies  born  to  Egyptian 
mothers  die  before  they  are  three  years  old.  A 
great  landowner  told  me  that  on  his  estate  nearly 
every  woman  had  been  the  mother  of  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  children,  but  that  only  three  or  four  of 
them  had  survived.  No  judgment  is  used  in  regard 
to"  their  food.  At  the  time  when  melons  are  in 
season,  the  death  tale  of  the  children  increases  to 
an  alarming  extent.  They  are  allowed  to'eat  what 
they  like,  and  as  much  as  they  like. 

Lord  Kitchener  has  issued  thousands  of  little 
tracts  instructing  mothers  in  the  treatment  of 
children  in  the  time  of  the  great  heat.-  An  Egyptian 
lady  laughed  when  told  of  this,  saying,  "  Who  will 


295 


INFANT  MORTALITY  297 

read  it  to  the  mothers  ?  Lord  Kitchener  should  send 
a  town  crier  with  each  bundle  of  leaflets."  I  asked 
if  the  father  could  not  read  it  to  the  mother  ?  She 
said,  "  The  fathers,  that  is  of  the  Fellaheen  class 
where  these  tracts  are  needed,  are  as  ignorant  as  the 
mothers.  The  ones  who  have  education  enough  to 
read  the  tracts  do  not  need  them,  as  they  know 
that  babies  should  not  eat  melons  and  cucumbers  in 
the  time  of  the  great  heat."  But  I  am  afraid  that 
her  view  was  coloured  by  her  dislike  of  anything 
that  the  English  Government  might  do,  as  she  was 
an  ardent  advocate  of  "  Egypt  for  the  Egyptians." 

Yet  the  peasant  baby  seems  to  thrive,  at  least  to 
all  outward  appearances.  One  sees  him  toddling 
about  all  day  among  the  poultry  and  the  goats,  as 
naked  as  when  he  received  the  doubtful  blessing  of 
life,  or  sitting  astride  his  mother's  shoulders  as  she 
goes  to  and  from  the  canal.  When  he  reaches  the 
age  of  seven,  if  he  is  not  sent  to  school,  he  goes  with 
his  sisters  to  shepherd  the  goats  or  cattle,  or  out 
into  the  fields  armed  with  a  sling  to  frighten  the 
birds  from  the  crops,  or  joins  in  the  work  of  the 
farm.  Within  a  few  years  he  is  the  tall  straight 
young  man  that  one  watches  working  the  shadoof 
along  the  water-side,  or,  if  he  has  "  been  cursed 
with  ambition,"  he  may  be  one  of  the  students  in 


298 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  Government  schools  that  are  springing  up  all 
over  Egypt  for  this  especial  class  of  Egyptian  youth. 

Any  way,  with  all  her  handicaps  of  climate  and 
ignorance,  Egypt  shows  that  she  is  a  land  of  won- 
drous fertility  where  babies  are  concerned,  and  if  left 
without  war  or  oppression,  her  increase  in  popula- 
tion is  marvellous.  In  the  twelfth  century  Egypt 
had  a  population  of  18,000,000.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  her  people  only  numbered 
2,000,000.  These  seven  centuries  were  years  of 
foreign  invasion  and  ruthless  despotism.  From  the 
nineteenth  century  to  the  twentieth,  that  is  in  the 
last  one  hundred  years  of  comparative  peace  and 
prosperity,  her  population  has  grown  from  2,000,000 
to  12,000,000. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


SUPERSTITION 


HE  Egyptians  are  very  superstitious,  indeed 


superstition  might  almost  be  called  the  re- 


ligion of  feminine  Egypt.  Many  of  their 
superstitions  form  a  part  of  their  religion  and  are 
sanctioned  by  the  Koran. 

No  Egyptian  women,  unless  a  few  of  the  very 
advanced  modern  women,  but  are  believers  in  good 
or  bad  fairies  or,  as  they  call  them,  "ginns."  These 
ginns  are  said  to  have  been  made  before  the  world, 
and  are  capable  of  assuming  any  form  they  desire. 
They  inhabit  the  ground,  the  rivers,  wells,  ruined 
houses,  baths,  and  ovens.  In  fact  they  may  be 
found  nearly  everywhere  and  must  be  considered 
in  every  act  of  the  daily  life.  For  example,  a  peasant 
woman  before  she  threw  her  water  in  which  she 
had  washed  her  dishes  upon  the  ground  would  say 
"  Destoor,"  that  is,  she  asks  permission  or  begs  the 
pardon  of  the  "  ginn  "  who  might  happen  to  choose 
that  particular  place  for  his  temporary  abiding 
14  299 


300  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


place.  Also,  when  she  lets  a  bucket  down  into  a 
well,  or  lights  the  fire,  or  puts  the  bread  into  the 
oven,  she  says  the  same  thing,  quite  likely  adding, 
"  May  God  protect  thee  from  all  evil  spirits." 

Many  of  the  desert  Arabs  believe  that  a  "  ginn" 
rides  in  the  whirlwind  which  they  so  often  see 
sweeping  across  the  sands  of  the  desert.  What  we 
call  a  falling  star  is  commonly  believed  to  be  a 
dart  thrown  by  God  at  an  evil  genie,  and  an  Egyptian 
woman  will  say,  "  May  God  transfix  the  enemy  of 
the  faith."  Evil  spirits  are  prone  to  come  into  the 
house  at  night,  so  the  person  who  locks  the  door 
says,  "  In  the  name  of  God,  the  compassionate,  the 
merciful."  The  laundry  woman  in  Cairo  used  to 
murmur  over  the  folding  of  the  clothes,  and,  on 
asking  her  what  she  said,  I  found  she  repeated  a 
little  formula  so  that  nothing  with  evil  intent 
should  find  a  resting-place  within  my  folded  linen, 
as  she  liked  me  and  did  not  wish  me  harm. 

Like  the  Chinese  the  Egyptians  believe  that  evil 
spirits  station  themselves  upon  the  rooftree  of  the 
home,  but  they  do  not  go  so  far  to  counteract  the 
bad  effect  of  the  spirits  as  do  the  Chinese,  who  point 
the  ends  of  the  roof,  causing  the  "  ginns  "  to  fall  from 
their  up-curving  cornices  as  they  try  to  find  an 
entrance  into  the  house. 


EGYPTIAN  "  GINNS  " 


301 


Many  of  the  ignorant  are  great  believers  in  ghosts. 
At  the  time  of  the  removal  of  the  mummies  from  the 
tombs  of  the  kings  in  Thebes  to  Cairo,  the  natives 
feared  to  go  out  on  the  roads  at  night  because  of 
the  wailing  of  the  spirits  who  were  being  disturbed 
from  their  sleep  of  centuries.  Also  in  Cairo  when 
the  mummies  were  being  removed  to  the  new  build- 
ing which  now  houses  them,  the  natives  said  it  was 
impossible  to  sleep  for  many  nights  after  the  re- 
moval, because  of  the  frightened  wailing  of  the 
spirits  who  had  been  abroad  at  the  time  of  the 
removal  of  the  cases  and  could  not  find  their  resting- 
places  upon  their  return. 

But  superstition  in  regard  to  mummies  is  not 
confined  to  Eygptians.  I  am  told  that  there 
appeared  in  the  Egyptian  Gazette,  the  leading 
English  newspaper  of  Egypt,  a  letter  from  an 
Englishman,  who  stated  that,  while  standing  in 
front  of  the  mummy  of  a  certain  Queen  of  Egypt, 
he  made  a  remark  not  complimentary  to  her  looks. 
Instantly  he  was  seized  by  the  throat  by  an  in- 
visible hand  and  nearly  choked  to  death  before  he 
was  taken  away  by  an  attendant,  who  thought  the 
man  subject  to  epilepsy.  There  is  in  the  Museum 
in  London,  according  to  popular  belief,  a  mummy 
whose  influence  is  so  deleterious  to  all  who  look 


302         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


upon  her  that  she  has  been  removed  to  the  storage 
rooms,  where  she  may  exercise  her  baneful  influence 
without  harm  to  others. 

Indeed,  I  have  heard  students  of  Egyptology 
say  that  they  believed  there  was  some  shadow  of 
truth  in  the  popular  belief  that  the  spirits  of  these 
mummies  had  not  yet  arisen  above  the  earth  they 
loved  so  well.  They  tied  their  souls  to  the  world 
they  had  quitted  with  the  material  things  with 
which  they  had  been  surrounded  while  in  life. 
They  were  brought  foods,  their  clothing  was  buried 
with  them,  images  of  their  servants  were  placed 
in  their  tombs,  their  camels  and  horses  were  sacri- 
ficed to  accompany  them  on  their  journey  to  the 
unknown  land,  and  their  relatives  made  pilgrimages 
to  their  burial  places  to  communicate  with  them. 
In  fact,  they  were  attached  by  most  visible  cords  to 
their  former  life,  and  no  wonder  it  were  impossible 
to  break  their  earthly  fetters. 

Above  the  belief  in  "  ginns  "  and  ghosts,  is  the 
belief  in  the  good  spirits  called  "  wellees."  The 
king  of  them  is  a  being  called  a  Kutb  whose 
usual  place  of  residence  is  on  the  roof  of  the  Kaaba 
or  holy  place  of  Mecca.  He  is  invisible  and  can 
pass  instantly  through  the  air,  and  often  comes  to 
one  of  his  favourite  stations  in  Cairo  behind  one 


SPIRITS  OF  THE  MUMMY  303 


leaf  of  the  great  wooden  door  of  the  gate  of  Bab 
Zuweyleh.  It  is  a  favourite  place  for  the  sick,  as  it 
is  believed  that  a  nail  driven  into  the  door  will 
heal  certain  forms  of  illness,  and  that  an  extracted 
tooth  tied  to  the  doorway  will  ensure  a  person 
against  the  toothache.  The  doorway  is  generally 
covered  with  pieces  of  cloth  torn  from  the  garments 
of  persons  wishing  the  aid  of  the  Kutb.  This  good 
spirit  wanders  throughout  the  whole  world,  among 
persons  of  every  religion,  assuming  their  dress  and 
manners  and  customs,  distributing  through  the 
agency  of  his  subordinate  "  wellees  "  blessings  and 
the  awards  of  virtue. 

Many  Moslems  say  that  Elias  or  Elijah  was  the 
Kutb  of  his  time.  They  say  he  has  never  died, 
having  drank  of  the  fountain  of  Youth.  We  read 
in  the  Bible  of  his  translation,  of  his  being  trans- 
ported from  place  to  place  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  of 
his  investing  Elisha  with  miraculous  powers,  and  of 
the  subjection  of  other  prophets  to  him.  Kings  I. 
is  quoted  as  proof  that  he  was  a  Kutb  : 

"  And  it  will  come  to  pass  as  soon  as  I  am  gone 
from  thee,  that  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  will  carry 
thee,  I  know  not  whither." 

Guardian  angels  are  believed  to  watch  over  the 
actions  of  every  Mohammedan.    The  Koran  says : 


304  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


"  Each  hath  a  succession  of  angels  before  him  and 
behind  him  who  watch  over  him  by  God's  bequest." 
These  guardians  are  again  mentioned  in  the  holy 
book  of  Islam : 

"Supreme  over  his  servants  he  sendeth  forth 
guardians  who  watch  over  you  until  when  death 
overtaketh  any  one  of  you  our  messengers  take  his 
soul  and  fail  not." 

The  two  most  important  angels  that  go  through 
life  with  the  Mussulman  are  the  recording  angels. 
The  one  at  the  right  shoulder  records  in  the  Book 
of  Life  the  good  deeds  committed,  and  the  one  at  the 
left  shoulder  places  on  the  white  page  the  evil  acts 
of  the  wayfarer.  A  woman  remembers  these  angels 
in  every  detail  of  her  daily  work.  She  would  not 
throw  anything  unclean  over  her  right  shoulder, 
nor  would  she  touch  an  unclean  thing  with  her  right 
hand.  The  right  side  is  more  sacred  than  the  left 
side,  and  on  entering  a  mosque  the  right  foot  is  put 
over  the  threshold  before  the  left. 

The  guardian  angels  not  only  follow  one  through 
life,  but  they  go  to  the  grave  with  the  true  believer. 
They  visit  the  body  the  first  night  after  interment 
and  cause  it  to  sit  up,  then  whisper  in  its  ear,  "  What 
dost  thou  worship  ?  "  and  the  dead  must  answer, 
11 1  worship  God."    Then  the  query  is  made,  "  What 


GUARDIAN  ANGELS 


805 


is  thy  religion  ?  "  and  the  answer  is,  "I  profess 
Islam,"  and  to  the  third,  "  Who  is  the  Prophet  ?  " 
the  response  is  whispered,  "  My  Prophet  is  Moham- 
med," and  then  the  soul  is  left  in  peace  until  it  is 
transported  to  Paradise. 

All  over  Egypt  one  sees  little  marabouts  or  tombs 
of  holy  men.  These  are  visited  by  women  especially 
who  ask  the  intercession  of  these  men.  It  is  not 
believed  that  they  are  an  intermediary  between 
oneself  and  God  because  one  of  the  strongest  tenets 
of  the  Mohammedan  faith  is  the  fact  that  each 
person  may  go  to  God  direct.  Yet  because  of  the 
holy  life  led  by  these  saints  they  are  believed  to 
have  great  influence.  I  have  a  friend  whose  sister- 
in-law  has  made  a  great  many  pilgrimages  to  differ- 
ent tombs,  asking  the  blessing  of  a  son.  It  has  not 
been  granted  her,  but  she  still  believes,  and  when 
she  hears  of  a  saint  who  is  noted  for  answering  the 
prayers  of  women,  she  hurriedly  departs  for  the 
place.  Her  cynical  family  say  it  is  only  an  excuse 
for  an  outing,  as  she  is  a  nervous,  restless  woman  who 
chafes  at  the  restricting  walls  of  the  harem,  but 
they  dare  not  openly  express  their  disbelief  in  the 
piety  that  actuates  such  deeds,  consequently  the 
pilgrimages  are  made. 

The  Egyptian  women  are  great  believers  in  charms 


306  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


worn  upon  the  body,  and  naturally  the  greatest 
charm  is  a  passage  from  the  Koran.  In  the  olden 
time  nearly  every  devout  Moslem  wore  a  case  in 
which  some  chapter  of  his  Holy  Book  was  enclosed, 
but  now  it  is  more  rare.  In  the  desert  one  sees  the 
camel-drivers  with  this  case  hanging  from  a  cord 
around  their  neck. 

The  ninety-nine  names  of  God,  containing  all  the 
names  and  epithets  applied  to  the  Ruler  of  the 
Universe,  if  written  upon  a  paper  and  kept  upon 
the  body  or  in  the  house,  are  supposed  to  keep  evil 
away  from  the  person  or  the  household.  One  sees 
these  little  charm-cases  not  only  on  the  children 
and  the  women,  but  the  donkey  carries  one  around 
his  neck,  and  the  gentle  cow  that  was  driven  past 
our  door  each  night  had  a  string  of  blue  beads, 
with  a  little  nickle  box  containing  a  verse  of  the 
Koran  to  guard  her  from  whatever  evil  may  befall 
a  placid  motherly  cow. 

The  greatest  fear  and  terror  of  the  Egyptian 
mother,  and  one  which  haunts  her  throughout  the 
youth  of  her  children,  is  that  caused  by  her  implicit 
belief  in  the  evil  eye.  Yet  this  belief  in  the  power 
of  the  eye  to  cause  danger  to  a  loved  one  is  not 
confined  to  an  Egyptian  mother.  It  is  shared  by 
the  peasants  of  Italy,  the  women  of  India,  and  the 


THE  EVIL  EYE 


307 


children  of  China  run  to  the  most  secluded  spot 
within  the  house  to  hide  themselves  from  the 
malignant  glance  of  the  foreigner  who  may  chance 
to  be  passing  by. 

The  fear  is  not  caused  by  ignorance,  but  is  ingrained 
within  the  Egyptian  character.  I  have  talked  with 
an  intelligent  man  of  the  Sheikh  class  who  has 
travelled  and  lived  abroad,  who  has  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  an  education  at  Oxford,  but  who  is  a 
believer  in  the  dread  influence  of  the  eye  of  an  evil- 
wisher.  He  told  me  that  he  did  not  like  any  one  to 
admire  or  look  too  intently  at  his  children.  If 
they  did,  something  always  happened  to  them. 
He  had  noticed  it  repeatedly,  and,  arguing  from 
cause  and  effect,  now  fully  believed  it  was  caused 
by  the  sparks  sent  out  from  the  human  eye.  I 
was  talking  to  a  young  doctor  who  had  recently 
graduated  from  the  medical  school  in  Cairo.  He 
laughed  at  the  superstition,  which,  he  said,  was  con- 
fined to  women,  but,  when  later  we  were  discussing 
the  subject  of  vibrations  in  the  air,  he  said  that 
the  eye  sent  out  the  most  powerful  vibrations,  and 
could  affect  the  person  against  whom  the  rays 
were  directed  either  well  or  ill,  according  to  the 
good  or  bad  intention  of  the  sender.  Evidently, 
his  medical  education  had  not  entirely  destroyed 


308  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  belief  that  had  been  nurtured  at  his  mother's 
knee. 

A  son  to  the  Eastern  woman  is  the  greatest 
blessing  that  may  be  sent  her,  and  in  her  fear  that 
he  may  be  coveted  by  less  fortunate  women,  she 
perhaps  dresses  him  like  a  girl  or  keeps  him  dirty 
and  untidy  so  that  his  beauties  may  not  appear. 
It  is  the  same  idea  that  causes  the  Chinese  mother 
to  pierce  the  left  ear  of  her  son  and  put  a  ring  in  it 
so  that  the  jealous  gods  or  the  passing  person  will 
think  him  that  undesired  possession,  a  girl,  and  not 
take  from  her  her  treasure. 

I  visited  in  a  Bedouin  home  where  there  were  a 
great  many  children  and  naturally  admired  some 
of  them.  The  lady  who  was  interpreting  for  me 
said,  "  I  did  not  tell  the  mother  that  you  said  the 
child  was  pretty.  It  would  have  frightened  her 
so  that  she  would  have  passed  the  rest  of  the  night 
in  making  up  charms  to  counteract  the  effect  of 
your  admiration."  I  asked  what  kind  of  charms 
she  would  use  and  she  said,  "  Quite  likely  she  would 
have  cut  a  piece  from  the  child's  dress  and  at  the 
setting  of  the  sun  when  the  sky  was  red  burn  the 
piece  of  cloth  with  some  alum,  and  fumigate  the 
child  with  the  smoke."  She  may  have  sprinkled 
the  floor  thoroughly  with  salt  after  I  left,  as  that 


CHARMS 


309 


humble  household  necessity  is  a  great  corrector  of 
evil  intentions  when  scattered  with  the  proper 
prayers  murmured  over  it. 

During  the  first  ten  days  of  the  month  of  Mo- 
harram  the  women  buy  a  mixture  of  various  in- 
gredients which  are  supposed,  when  mixed  according 
to  a  set  formula,  to  be  a  great  charm  against  the 
evil  that  may  come  to  the  most  well-ordered  house- 
hold. During  the  year,  if  a  child  is  threatened  with 
an  illness  caused  by  some  malign  influence,  a  little 
of  the  mixture  is  thrown  upon  some  burning  coals 
and  the  child  inhales  the  smoke. 

Yet,  as  every  one  agrees,  for  every  ill  that  flesh 
is  heir  to,  the  Koran  is  the  chief  remedy.  Often 
the  sick  will  get  a  holy  man  to  write  some  words 
from  out  of  the  sacred  book  upon  a  piece  of  paper, 
place  it  in  a  basin  of  water  until  the  ink  disappears, 
then  drink  the  water.  The  words  most  often  used 
are  ' '  And  he  will  heal  the  breasts  of  the  people  who 
believe,"  or  "  Oh  men,  how  hath  an  admonition  come 
to  you  from  your  Lord  and  a  remedy  for  what  is 
in  your  breasts?  "  or  "  When  I  am  sick  he  healeth 
me." 

The  Egyptians  of  the  lower  classes  suffer  from 
eye  trouble,  it  being  said  that  96  per  cent,  of  the 
population  of  Egypt  are  afflicted  in  greater  or  less 


310  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


degree  with  this  trouble.  There  are  many  charms 
for  it.  One  of  the  old  beliefs  was  that  a  piece  of 
dried  mud  taken  from  near  Boulac  in  the  out- 
skirts of  Cairo,  and  carried  to  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  river,  would  relieve  the  sufferer.  A  person 
afflicted  with  a  sty  should  go  to  seven  different 
houses  and  beg  a  piece  of  bread  from  seven  different 
women  by  the  name  of  Fatima.  The  bread  thus 
obtained,  when  made  into  a  little  ball  and  rubbed 
upon  the  sty,  is  a  certain  cure.  Others  say  it  is  not 
so  efficacious  as  to  walk  in  silence  around  seven 
tombs  before  sunrise,  when  the  sty  will  gradually 
disappear. 

I  have  seen  a  baby  with  eighteen  amulets  tied  on 
different  parts  of  its  tiny  body  to  cure  its  eyes, 
which  were  nearly  gone  from  filth  and  lack  of  care. 
For  a  child  who  cannot  walk  some  Egyptian  mothers 
believe  that  if  the  feet  are  tied  together  with  a  palm- 
leaf  knotted  three  times,  and  the  mother  and  child 
station  themselves  in  front  of  a  mosque  and  request 
the  first,  second,  and  third  persons  leaving  the  door- 
way to  untie  each  one  a  knot,  it  will  cause  the  child 
to  Walk.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  quite  likely 
when  the  charm  will  prove  effective,  and  the  mother 
will  be  again  assured  that  her  gods  are  working  in 
her  behalf. 


A  LEGEND  OF  THE  NILE  311 


It  is  also  thought  most  unlucky  to  sneeze  once, 
and  the  person  to  whom  this  calamitous  accident 
happens  will  try  to  force  another,  especially  if  start- 
ing upon  a  journey  or  commencing  some  new  work ; 
as  this  one  lonely  sneeze  would  be  taken  as  a 
warning  that  the  trip  would  end  unhappily  or  the 
work  would  be  unsuccessful.  Yet,  this  little 
paroxysm  is  not  always  considered  unfortunate, 
especially  if  it  be  the  other  person  who  sneezes.  If 
a  woman  has  a  very  ardent  desire  in  mind,  and  meets 
a  person  who  sneezes,  the  desire  will  be  granted 
without  delay. 

There  is  a  pretty  superstition,  or  rather  legend, 
connected,  as  so  many  things  in  Egypt  are,  with 
the  River  Nile.  It  is  believed  that  in  midsummer 
a  drop  of  dew  of  marvellous  power  is  elaborated  in 
the  remotest  regions  of  heaven  and  falls  down, 
always  on  the  same  night,  called  the  Night  of  the 
Dew,  into  the  Nile,  which  is  at  once  impregnated 
and  brings  forth  the  annual  inundation.  If  watched 
for  closely  this  drop  may  be  seen  shooting  down 
like  a  star  to  the  river.  On  this  night  some  super- 
stitious families  number  themselves  and  make  a 
little  representation  of  each  member  of  their  family 
in  clay  or  dough.  (This  must  have  come  to  the 
Egyptians  before  the  advent  of  Islam,  because 


312         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


Mohammed  forbade  the  making  of  images.)  The 
object  of  the  ceremony  is  to  see  who  will  live  and 
who  will  die.  If  the  image  remains  smooth  and 
entire  the  omen  is  fatal,  but  if  it  cracks,  as  it  always 
does,  a  good  old  age  is  promised.  Maidens  do  this, 
wishing  to  know  whether  their  husbands  will  be 
rich  or  poor,  young  or  old. 

Charms  play  an  important  part  in  the  life  of  all 
Mohammedans.  I  have  an  English  friend  whose 
lack  of  children  is  a  source  of  great  anxiety  to  her 
Moslem  friends.  One  day,  when  visiting  an  old 
white-haired  gentleman  and  his  wife,  they  solemnly 
gave  her  a  present,  the  most  precious  they  could 
bestow.  It  was  a  small  piece  of  sheepskin  about 
four  inches  wide  by  ten  inches  long,  on  which  were 
written  in  gold  the  different  names  of  Allah,  along 
with  a  short  prayer  in  connection  with  each  name. 
They  begged  her  to  bind  it  upon  her  husband's 
arm,  then  upon  her  arm,  and  afterwards  upon  the 
arms  of  the  child  that  would  surely  come  to  bless 
her.  They  told  innumerable  instances  of  its  power 
when  worn  to  guard  the  wearer  from  harm.  For 
example,  their  eldest  son  was  in  Chicago,  and  one 
night  he  intended  going  to  a  theatre  with  a  party  of 
American  friends,  and,  hurriedly  dressing,  he  forgot 
his  precious  charm  and  left  it  upon  the  table. 


DREAMS 


313 


When  remembering  it  he  was  nearly  to  the  theatre, 
but  he  returned  to  get  the  talisman  which  had  been 
his  guardian  for  so  many  years,  and  when  he  arrived 
at  the  theatre  he  found  it  burned.  It  was  the 
fatal  Iroquois  theatre  fire,  in  which  all  of  his  party 
had  perished. 

To  add  to  the  many  superstitions  and  fears  that 
are  the  heritage  of  the  Egyptian  woman,  is  the 
belief  in  dreams.  Her  dreams  are  remembered, 
and  she  will  often  adjust  her  day  to  accord  to  some 
dream  that  she  considers  a  warning.  If  she  should 
dream  of  something  with  the  number  seven  in  it, 
or  dream  of  seeing  seven  people  or  things  it  would 
be  most  fortunate,  as  seven  is  the  lucky  number 
in  Egypt.  She  also  has  her  lucky  and  unlucky 
days.  Friday,  because  it  is  the  Mohammedan 
Sabbath,  the  day  on  which  Adam  was  created,  the 
day  on  which  the  general  resurrection  is  promised, 
is  a  day  most  blessed,  but  it  would  be  a  most 
courageous  woman  who  would  start  on  a  journey 
or  cut  into  a  new  piece  of  cloth  on  Saturday,  the 
most  unfortunate  day  of  the  week. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  superstitions  and 
fears  that  surround  the  Egyptian  wife  and  mother. 
They  will  quite  likely  dominate  her  until  the  newer 
education  trains  her  mind  to  think  and  reason; 


314         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


then  she  will  pick  the  gold  from  the  dross,  and  life 
will  be  less  fearful  for  her  than  at  present,  because 
ignorance  and  superstition  go  hand  in  hand,  and 
one  can  only  be  eliminated  by  the  acquiring  of  the 
other.  Yet,  I  think  superstition  will  never  be 
quite  free  from  the  mind  of  the  woman  of  Egypt, 
because  she  is  an  Oriental,  and  it  seems  to  be  bred  in 
the  blood  of  these  Eastern  people  to  see  signs  in 
the  heavens,  where  we  of  colder  blood  see  only  a 
floating  cloud. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


RELIGION 


JHE  Egyptian  woman  is  a  follower  of  either 


the  Mohammedan  or  the  Coptic  religion. 


By  far  the  greater  number  are  Mohammedans, 
as  10,000,000  from  the  12,000,000  inhabitants  of 
Egypt  claim  Mohammed  as  their  Prophet.  The  faith 
is  called  "El  Islam,"  which  words,  literally  translated, 
mean  "to  deliver  the  face  to  God"  or  to  turn  to 
God  only  in  worship  and  prayer  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  other  worship. 

Coupled  with  the  proposition  that  God  is  One 
and  there  is  no  God  but  God,  is  the  law  "  Mohammed 
is  the  Messenger  of  God."  This  Prophet  of  Arabia, 
who  is  believed  in  so  implicitly  by  his  followers,  was 
born  near  Mecca,  Arabia,  a.d.  570.  His  father  died 
a  few  months  before  his  birth,  and  his  mother  in 
his  early  childhood.  He  was  taken  into  the  home 
of  his  grandfather,  and  later  into  that  of  his  uncle, 
Abu  Talit,  the  chief  of  the  Koreishites,  the  ruling 

15  315 


316         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


tribe  of  Mecca.  Mohammed,  when  a  young  boy,  as 
most  all  Eastern  children,  tended  the  sheep  and 
goats  of  his  people.  As  he  grew  older  he  went  on 
trading  trips  with  the  men  of  the  tribe  to  Syria  and 
other  countries  adjacent  to  Mecca. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  after  conducting  a 
successful  caravan  trip  for  Khadijah,  a  rich  widow 
fifteen  years  his  senior,  he  married  her,  and  through 
her  wealth  attained  a  position  of  importance  and 
leadership  in  the  community. 

He  passed  an  uneventful  life  until  ^the  age  of 
forty,  when  he  began  to  have  visions  and  com- 
munications, as  he  believed,  from  God.  He  com- 
municated them  to  his  wife,  who  believed  them 
and  in  him.  Carlyle  says,  "  If  there  had  been  no 
Khadijah  there  would  have  been  no  Islam,"  as  her 
belief  in  him  gave  him  confidence  in  himself  and  his 
message. 

He  made  few  converts,  and  the  few  were  perse- 
cuted so  bitterly  that  they  fled  to  Abyssinia, 
seeking  refuge  with  the  Christian  king  of  that 
country.  The  words  of  the  leader  of  these  first 
disciples  of  Mohammed  give  an  idea  of  the  belief 
he  inspired  amongst  his  followers,  and  the  purity 
of  his  mission: 

"  Oh  King,  we  lived  in  ignorance,  idolatry,  and 


THE  STORY  OF  MOHAMMED  319 


unchastity ;  the  strong  oppressed  the  weak ;  we 
spoke  untruth  ;  we  violated  the  duties  of  hospitality. 
Then  a  Prophet  arose,  one  whom  we  knew  from  our 
youth,  with  whose  descent  and  conduct  and  good 
faith  and  truth  we  are  well  acquainted.  He  told  us 
to  worship  one  God,  to  speak  the  truth,  to  keep 
good  faith,  to  assist  our  relations,  to  fulfil  the  rights 
of  hospitality,  and  to  abstain  from  all  things  impure, 
ungodly,  unrighteous.  And  he  ordered  us  to  say 
prayers,  give  alms,  and  to  fast.  We  believed  in 
him.    We  followed  him." 

The  cause  of  the  persecution  of  Mohammed  was 
easily  traced,  as  Mecca  was  the  centre  of  a  pilgrim- 
age for  people  from  all  parts  of  Arabia  who  came 
there  to  worship  the  many  gods  that  were  in  the 
Kaaba  and  to  kiss  the  sacred  black  stone  that  was 
believed  to  have  fallen  from  heaven.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  town  depended  upon  the  pilgrimages, 
and  a  teaching  that  there  was  but  one  God  and 
that  the  other  gods  were  useless  was  considered 
as  treason.  Mohammed  for  a  time  was  protected 
by  the  power  of  his  uncle,  but  his  uncle  died  and  a 
plot  was  made  to  kill  him.  In  desperation  he  learned 
that  he  must  fly  for  his  life,  and  in  the  year  622,  with 
one  companion,  he  fled  to  Yathrib,  afterward  called 
Medina.    From  this  flight  or  the  Year  of  the  Hegira, 


320         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


as  it  is  called,  the  Mohammedans  date  their 
calendar. 

At  Mecca  Mohammed  was  a  preacher  and  a 
prophet ;  at  Medina  he  became  a  warrior,  and  was 
so  successful  that  within  ten  years  (he  died  in  632) 
he  had  subjugated  Mecca  and  the  surrounding 
country,  and  so  inspired  his  followers  that  within 
one  hundred  years  of  his  death  they  were  masters  of 
an  empire  greater  than  Rome  at  the  height  of  its 
power.  They  were  building  mosques  in  China,  in 
Spain,  Persia,  Southern  India,  and  Northern  Africa. 
The  name  of  Mohammed,  coupled  with  that  of  the 
Almighty,  was  called  out  from  ten  thousand  minarets 
five  times  daily  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Atlantic. 

The  text-book  of  El  Islam  is  the  Koran.  It 
is  believed  to  be  literally  God's  revelation  to  Moham- 
med through  the  Angel  Gabriel.  The  language  of 
the  Koran,  Arabic,  is  God's  language  and  must 
not  be  translated.  Its  eloquence  is  supposed  to  be 
miraculous.  Being  the  latest  law  direct  from  God 
it  is  an  infallible  guide  to  conduct,  and  it  abrogates 
all  other  holy  books.  The  Mohammedans  rever- 
ence Moses,  Abraham,  Noah,  Adam,  Christ,  and 
Mohammed  as  the  six  greatest  prophets,  and 
believe  that  each  received  a  revealed  law  of  God. 
They  say  the  Gospels,  the  Songs  of  David,  and  the 


THE  KORAN 


321 


Pentateuch  are  of  Divine  origin,  but  have  been  so 
much  altered  that  very  little  of  the  true  Word  of 
God  is  in  them.  The  Koran,  on  the  contrary,  can 
suffer  no  alteration  whatsoever.  The  Mohamme- 
dans believe  that  Christ  was  born  of  a  virgin  by 
the  miraculous  operation  of  God,  without  any 
natural  father,  but  not  that  he  is  a  Son  of  God. 
Mohammed  says  : 

"  The  Messiah,  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary,  is  only  an 
apostle  of  God,  and  His  Word,  which  He  conveyed 
unto  Mary  and  a  Spirit  proceeding  from  Himself. 
Believe  in  God  and  His  Apostles,  and  say  not  Three 
(there  is  a  Trinity).  God  is  one  God.  Far  be  it 
from  His  Glory  that  He  should  have  a  son." 

The  Koran  teaches  that  after  Christ  had  fulfilled 
His  mission  and  given  His  message  He  was  taken 
up  unto  God,  and  another  person,  on  whom  God  had 
stamped  the  likeness  of  Christ,  was  crucified  in  His 
place.  In  speaking  of  the  unbelief  of  the  Jews, 
Mohammed  says : 

"  Nay,  but  God  hath  sealed  them  up  for  their 
unbelief,  so  that  few  believe.  And  for  their  un- 
belief, and  for  their  having  spoken  against  Mary 
a  grievous  calumny,  and  for  their  saying  '  Verily 
we  have  slain  the  Messiah,  Jesus  the  Son  of  Mary, 
an  apostle  of  God.'    Yet  they  slew  Him  not,  but 


322  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 

they  had  only  His  likeness  .  .  .  but  God  took  Him 
up  to  Himself." 

The  followers  of  Mohammed  trace  their  descent 
from  Abraham  and  call  themselves  the  descendants 
of  Ishmael.  At  Mecca  the  well  Zem  Zem  is  held 
sacred  because  it  is  from  that  well  that  God  caused 
the  water  to  flow  which  Hagar  gave  to  the  dying 
child.  The  Koran  teaches  that  it  was  Ishmael  who 
was  to  be  sacrificed  instead  of  Isaac,  and  who 
was  saved  by  the  intervention  of  God.  At  Mecca 
the  sacrifice  of  the  ram  is  still  made  to  commemorate 
this  event.  When  one  visits  the  Bedouins  in  their 
tents,  one  can  understand  more  fully  their  claim 
that  they  are  the  descendants  of  Ishmael.  "  God 
hath  made  the  wilderness  His  home,  and  the  barren 
steppes  His  dwelling.  He  scorns  the  riches  of  the 
city.  He  takes  no  heed  of  the  driver's  cry.  He 
ranges  the  hills." 

Authorities  differ  in  regard  to  the  position  of 
woman  before  and  after  the  time  of  Mohammed. 
Some  say  that  her  position  was  inferior,  others 
that  it  was  far  superior  than  under  Islam.  Yet 
woman,  according  to  many  students  of  Moslem 
history,  had  a  voice  in  the  public  questions  of  the 
day.  It  is  said  that  she  voted,  and  by  the  Prophet's 
approval,  on  questions  of  social  interest.    In  the 


INFANTICIDE  AND  POLYGAMY  323 

biographies  of  Mohammed  it  is  stated  that  a  deputa- 
tion of  the  "  Owes  and  Khazrags,"  the  two  chief 
tribes  of  Medineh,  came  to  Mohammed  to  express 
their  approval  of  his  political  reign  over  them.  The 
deputies  elected  by  the  two  tribes  were  seventy 
men  and  two  women. 

In  the  "  times  of  ignorance,"  that  is  before  the 
time  of  Mohammed,  the  custom  of  female  infanticide 
prevailed.  This  was  due  probably  to  poverty  and 
war,  which  limited  the  number  of  males,  so  causing 
an  excess  in  the  number  of  females  undesirable. 
Mohammed  forbade  the  killing  of  girls  under  any 
circumstances.  Polygamy  was  also  practised,  with 
practically  no  limit  to  the  number  of  wives  a  man 
might  marry.  Mohammed  limited  this  number  to 
four,  although  he  himself  had  during  his  lifetime 
thirteen  wives.  Mohammed  did  not  believe  in 
the  equality  of  the  sex.  He  says,  "  Men  are  superior 
to  women  on  account  of  the  qualities  which  God 
hath  gifted  one  above  the  other,  and  on  account 
of  the  outlay  they  make  from  their  substance  for 
them."  He  believed  in  the  chastisement  of  wives: 
"  But  chide  those  whose  refractoriness  ye  have 
cause  to  fear.  Remove  them  into  beds  apart  and 
scourge  them."  In  another  place  he  says,  "  But  not 
one  of  you  must  whip  a  wife  like  whipping  a  slave." 


824  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


He  warns  his  followers  from  having  over  much 
confidence  in  women  and  entrusting  them  with 
property.  "Beware,  make  not  large  settlements  on 
women."  A  woman's  value  can  be  calculated  mathe- 
matically. If  a  wife  dies,  her  husband  can  inherit 
one-half  of  her  property  if  there  are  no  children. 
But  if  the  husband  dies,  his  widow  only  receives  a 
quarter  of  his  property,  and  if  there  are  children,  one- 
eighth.  If  there  are  several  wives,  this  eighth  part 
must  be  divided  amongst  them.  A  daughter  has 
one-half  the  portion  of  a  son.  It  takes  the  testi- 
mony of  two  women  to  equal  that  of  a  man,  and  in 
the  olden  time,  when  blood  was  accepted  as  the  price 
of  a  life,  only  half  was  needed  to  pay  for  the  death 
of  a  woman  as  was  demanded  for  that  of  a  man. 

There  is  an  economic  reason  at  back  of  this  lack 
of  value  placed  upon  woman's  life,  especially  in 
the  time  of  Mohammed.  It  was  a  time  of  tribal 
warfare,  and  men  were  at  a  premium.  The  existence 
of  the  tribe  depended  upon  its  fighting  strength, 
and,  as  in  all  countries  and  among  all  people  where 
war  is  necessary  to  protect  their  homes  from  the 
enemy,  the  non-combatants,  such  as  the  women  and 
the  aged,  are  not  considered  of  as  much  importance 
as  the  men  of  fighting  ability  at  the  present,  or 
the  youth  who  will  be  the  protectors  in  the  future. 


WOMEN  AT  PRAYER 


825 


I  asked  the  question  of  an  Egyptian  woman,  "  Is 
the  Egyptian  woman  a  good  Moslem  ?  "  "  She  is  a 
real  Moslem,  though  the  ignorant  may  know  nothing 
except  the  first  principles  of  El  Islam."  She  also 
added  "  that  the  tenets  of  the  religion  and  the 
prayers  are  taught  much  more  thoroughly  in  the 
Moslem  home  than  are  the  principles  and  teaching 
of  Christ  within  the  Christian  home."  The  woman's 
devotional  exercises  all  take  place  within  the  harem. 
She  does  not  attend  the  mosque.  The  Prophet  did 
not  forbid  it,  but  said  that  prayers  from  women  were 
better  said  in  private  than  in  a  public  place.  Women 
do  not  obey  the  call  to  prayer  as  strictly  as  do  the 
men.  For  one  thing  the  positions  taken  in  prayer 
are  very  difficult,  as  there  is  a  great  deal  of  kneeling 
and  bending.  The  Egyptian  woman  of  the  better 
class  leads  a  sedentary  life,  eats  rich  foods,  takes 
practically  no  exercise  at  all,  and  after  the  first  flush 
of  youth  is  past,  her  form  is  not  adapted  to  the  pos- 
tures necessary  for  prayer.  At  the  Moslem  Congress  it 
was  suggested  the  women  might  attend  the  mosque. 

The  religion  of  Mohammed  seems  to  be  a  man's 
religion,  some  even  going  so  far  as  to  say  that  there 
is  no  place  provided  in  the  heaven  of  El  Islam  for 
women.  That  cannot  be  sustained  by  the  teaching 
of  the  Prophet,  because  he  says  : 


326  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


"  Truly  the  men  who  resign  themselves  to  God, 
and  the  women  who  resign  themselves,  and  the 
believing  men  and  the  believing  women,  and  the 
devout  men  and  the  devout  women,  Allah  hath 
prepared  for  them  forgiveness  and  a  rich  re- 
ward." 

In  answer  to  my  persistent  inquiry  as  to  the 
reward  prepared  for  the  women  who  had  led  faithful 
devout  lives,  a  Mohammedan  Sheikh  or  teacher 
said  vaguely,  "  Oh,  they  have  a  place  to  them- 
selves," and  when  I  politely  insisted  that  he  should 
not  be  so  general,  but  give  me  a  more  definite  idea 
of  this  rather  enlarged  harem,  he  said,  "  Why,  they 
have  a  comfortable  place  where  they  can  sit  around 
and  talk  and  talk  and  talk."  This  seems  to  be  as 
practical  and  material  as  are  the  future  joys  held  out 
to  the  true  follower  of  Mohammed.  He  is  promised 
palaces  of  gold  and  silver,  rich  foods,  rare  wines, 
cooling  streams,  perfumes,  luscious  fruits,  and 
beautiful  houris  to  wait  upon  him.  Yet  it  is  wrong 
to  take  this  description  of  the  Moslem's  heaven  as 
literal,  any  more  than  we  should  take  the  revelation 
of  St.  John  as  literal.  It  is  said  by  authorities  to 
be  simply  a  description  of  material  joys  which  would 
appeal  to  the  sense-loving  Arab.  He  would  not 
understand  spiritual  delights. 


ISLAM  AND  CHRISTIANITY  327 


Mohammed  taught  that  there  was  no  preferment 
of  one  race  or  religion  to  another.  The  Koran  says, 
"  Godwill  not  forgive  that  His  monotheism  should 
be  denied,  but  He  will  pardon  anything  else  if  He 
wills."  It  also  says  in  another  chapter,  "  The 
Moslems,  the  Christians,  the  Jews,  any  amongst  these 
who  have  faith  in  God  in  the  second  world,  and  he 
who  does  good  deeds,  will  not  be  sad  nor  frightened, 
and  will  be  rewarded  by  God." 

I  asked  an  educated  Egyptian  woman,  "  What 
are  the  main  advantages  of  Islam  over  any  other 
faith — Christianity,  for  instance  ?  "  I  give  her 
answer  as  she  wrote  it  down  for  me : 

"  El  Islam  is  preferred  by  the  Egyptians  to  all 
other  faiths  for  many  reasons  : 

ist. — It  says  that  there  is  no  God  but  one,  and 
that  shows  the  greatness  and  power  of  God  more 
than  saying  that  He  is  Three  in  One  or  One  in  Three. 

2nd. — It  works  out  according  to  thinking  and 
logic.  Mohammed  did  not  spread  it  by  any  miracle 
or  unnatural  cause,  but  by  discussion  and  thinking. 
His  people  and  the  other  pagan  Arabs  told  him 
that  they  would  never  believe  except  by  a  miracle, 
and  yet  he  was  ordered  by  the  angel  to  answer  that 
he  was  a  man  like  others.  That  is  quite  the  con- 
trary of  other  faiths,  which  were  first  believed  and 


328  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


based  on  miracles  and  unnatural  deeds  beyond  the 
usual  power  of  man. 

3rd. — It  orders  every  Moslem  to  give  to  the  poor. 
This  eliminates  the  question  of  socialism  and 
nihilism  in  Mohammedan  lands,  because  the  rich 
give  of  their  plenty  to  those  in  poverty. 

4th. — It  orders  every  Mohammedan  who  can 
afford  it  to  go  on  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  in  order  that 
all  Moslems  from  all  parts  of  the  world  should  com- 
municate and  be  brethren. 

5th. — It  gives  more  liberty  to  its  followers  than 
any  other  faith,  viz.  : 

a.  It  orders  that  a  woman  should  be  quite 
free  to  manage  and  spend  her  own  money  as 
she  likes,  and  her  husband  is  forbidden  to  inter- 
fere with  her  business  unless  she  gives  him  leave 
to  do  so. 

b.  It  gives  freedom  to  the  married  to  divorce 
each  other,  if  they  find  it  impossible  to  live 
together  in  peace  ;  and  divorce  is  given  without 
courts  or  disgrace. 

6th. — It  contains  nothing  like  "  confession,"  and 
that  means  that  all  people  are  alike  and  that  no 
one  can  efface  the  human  sins  except  God. 

7th. — It  severely  forbids  monasticism  because  it 
is  unnatural. 


ISLAM  AND  CHRISTIANITY  329 


8th. — It  gives  strict  orders  for  cleanliness  and 
hygiene  and  it  counts  them  as  a  necessary  part  of 
its  faith." 

My  friend  adds,  "  I  do  not  say  that  all  Moham- 
medans follow  these  precepts  of  our  Prophet  any 
more  than  all  Christians  follow  the  teaching  of  Christ, 
but  they  form  the  principle  of  the  religion  of  El 
Islam  as  laid  down  in  our  sacred  book." 

In  addition  to  the  laws  given  above,  an  order  was 
given  all  followers  of  El  Islam  to  fast  during  the 
month  of  Ramadan.  This  fast  continues  for  thirty 
days,  during  which  period  neither  food  nor  drink 
shall  be  partaken  of  between  sunrise  and  sunset. 
When  this  fast  occurs  in  the  summer  months  it  is 
a  very  great  tax  upon  the  will-power  of  the  working 
man  or  woman,  especially  in  the  matter  of  quenching 
the  thirst,  yet  it  is  generally  conceded  that  it  is 
lived  up  to  in  almost  every  case.  At  the  end  of  the 
fast  a  three  days'  celebration  is  allowed,  when 
special  almsgiving  is  enjoined. 

This  question  of  almsgiving  is  very  great  in  all 
Moslem  lands.  One-twentieth  of  a  man's  income 
is  to  be  given  to  charity,  yet  there  are  no  organized 
charities  in  Egypt :  no  poor-houses,  no  homes  for 
the  aged,  nor  the  sick,  nor  the  insane.  The  individual 
person  is  helped,  no  thought  seeming  to  be  taken 


330         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


of  the  causes  nor  of  the  people  as  a  mass.  The 
charity  seems  to  be  given  more  for  the  effect  upon 
the  giver,  and  because  it  is  the  custom  to  give  at 
the  time  of  festivities  and  funerals  than  because 
the  recipient  is  a  real  object  of  pity.  It  is  only 
lately  that  women  seem  to  be  awakening  to  their 
social  obligations,  regarding  their  less  fortunate 
sisters,  in  activities  other  than  the  sending  of  food 
or  the  dropping  of  money  into  the  outstretched 
hand.  To-day,  in  Cairo,  a  band  of  generous  women 
are  carrying  on  a  home  for  helpless  women  and 
babies,  the  patronesses  of  which  are  members  of 
the  well-known  and  influential  families  of  Egypt. 

There  are  certain  prohibitory  laws  in  the  Koran 
affecting  the  moral  and  social  conditions  of  the 
people.  Wine  and  all  intoxicating  liquors,  for 
example,  are  forbidden  to  the  Moslem,  while  opium 
and  all  drugs  are  considered  as  unlawful,  though 
these  are  not  definitely  mentioned  in  the  Koran. 
The  eating  of  swine's  flesh  is  strictly  forbidden,  this 
being  incorporated  in  an  old  Egyptian  law  of  pre- 
Mohammedan  times,  rising  no  doubt  out  of  the 
fact  that  pork  is  not  healthful  in  a  hot  country. 
This  feeling  in  relation  to  swine  is  even  carried  so 
far  that  the  women  refuse  to  allow  foreign  mattresses 
on  their  divans,  fearing  that  they  may  be  filled  with 


THE  KORAN  AS  A  RULE  OF  LIFE  331 


the  hair  of  the  animal  which  is  tabooed  by  their 
religion. 

All  animals  killed  for  food  must  be  killed  in  a 
prescribed  way,  in  a  manner  resembling  the  laws 
laid  down  by  Judaism,  which  laws  are  seen  coming 
out  repeatedly  in  various  Koranic  injunctions.  A 
formula  is  spoken  over  the  animal  before  it  is  slain 
somewhat  as  follows,  "  In  the  name  of  God  ;  God 
is  most  great."  Women,  when  killing  a  chicken, 
often  add  the  sentence,  "  God  give  thee  patience 
to  endure  the  affliction  which  He  hath  allotted 
thee." 

Gambling  and  usury  and  all  games  of  chance  are 
prohibited  by  the  laws  of  the  Sacred  Book.  The 
Moslems  showed  their  adherence  to  their  faith 
in  the  most  practical  manner  when,  several  years 
ago,  the  savings-banks  were  established  by  the 
Government  and  allowed  a  certain  percentage  of 
interest  upon  the  money  deposited.  In  the  first 
two  years  3,195  of  the  depositors  refused  to  take 
their  interest,  as  they  considered  it  usury,  which  is 
explicitly  forbidden  in  the  Koran. 

Indeed  the  Egyptian's  attitude  towards  every 
phase  of  life  is  governed  by  his  interpretation  of 
the  Koran.  We  were  talking  with  a  Sheikh  one 
day,  a  man  not  only  educated  in  Egypt,  but  having 


332         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


spent  several  years  in  England,  regarding  the  new 
wonderful  inventions  of  the  twentieth  century, 
especially  the  automobile  and  the  aeroplane.  To 
our  consternation  he  said  that  they  were  spoken  of 
by  Mohammed  in  the  seventh  century.  Does  he 
not  say,  "  They  shall  be  taken  from  place  to  place 
by  animals  and  other  things  "  ? 

But  despite  the  varied  interpretations  of  certain 
parts  of  the  Koran  by  the  followers  of  the  Prophet, 
among  the  far-sighted  and  statesmanlike  rules  which 
he  made  were  those  relating  to  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca.  Mohammed  understood  the  love  of  the 
Oriental  for  a  holy  place  to  which  he  could  look 
forward  as  a  culmination  to  his  life  of  piety,  there- 
fore he  caused  the  journey  to  Mecca  to  be  attended 
with  great  honour  to  the  pilgrim.  After  this 
pilgrimage  he  was  given  the  title  of  Hadj  (which, 
in  the  words  of  Moslem  divines,  means  "aspira- 
tion ")  ;  the  pilgrim  was  allowed  to  wear  a  stripe 
of  green  in  his  turban  as  a  mark  of  his  religious 
triumph,  and  often  the  outside  of  his  house  is 
decorated  with  pictures  revealing  the  perils  and 
joys  of  the  journey  necessarily  filled  with  impres- 
sive experiences  to  the  Mohammedan  who  has 
never  before  left  the  banks  of  his  River  Nile.  It 
is  believed  by  many  that  a  prayer  said  at  Mecca 


0 


PILGRIMS  TO  MECCA  333 

is  equivalent  to  seventy  thousand  prayers  repeated 
at  any  other  place. 

Women  seldom  make  the  pilgrimage,  since  here- 
tofore it  has  been  a  long  and  tedious  journey  at- 
tended with  many  difficulties  and  dangers,  to  say 
nothing  of  its  considerable  expense.  Since  the 
introduction  of  the  railway  much  of  the  obstacles 
of  the  pilgrimage  have  been  overcome,  and  now  one 
often  hears  of  a  widow  or  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  man 
being  allowed  as  a  special  favour  to  visit  the  holy 
place  of  her  religion. 

Mohammedanism  has  found  at  Mecca  a  common 
meeting-place  where  the  passionate  fire  of  religious 
zeal  may  be  rekindled  year  by  year,  and  the  unity 
of  a  great  world  religion  preserved.  There  the 
racial  characteristics  of  the  man  from  Java,  the 
Indian,  the  Bedouin  from  the  deserts  of  Morocco, 
the  Turk,  and  the  Persian  are  lost  in  the  great 
thought  of  a  common  Islamic  brotherhood,  and 
from  there  the  Moslems  go  forth  with  new  impulse 
giving  new  meaning  to  their  cry  "  There  is  no  God 
but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His  Prophet." 

Among  the  needs  of  his  people  at  the  time  Mo- 
hammed received  his  inspiration  for  the  Koran 
was  the  necessity  for  personal  cleanliness.  Perhaps 
he  had  an  Arab  rendering  of  the  text  "  Cleanliness 
16 


334  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


is  next  to  Godliness  "  when  he  enjoined  upon  his 
followers  that  before  they  prayed  they  should  three 
times  rinse  the  mouth,  three  times  cleanse  the  ears, 
the  nostrils,  the  face,  the  head,  and  the  neck,  then 
the  right  hand  and  arm  to  the  elbow,  and  again  the 
left,  the  right  foot,  and  the  left.  Knowing  that 
for  the  traveller  crossing  the  desert  with  his  caravan, 
water  would  be  impossible  to  obtain,  he  prescribed 
the  use  of  sand  instead  of  the  precious  water. 

It  is  hard  to  believe  while  reading  the  Koran 
and  studying  the  laws  laid  down  by  Mohammed  for 
his  people,  that  he  was  a  man  utterly  without 
education,  but  his  followers  are  very  proud  of  this 
fact,  claiming  that  it  is  one  of  the  proofs  that  the 
Koran  was  an  inspired  book.  Of  the  Moslem 
Prophet  it  is  said,  as  the  Jews  spoke  of  Christ, 
"  How  knoweth  this  man  letters  having  never 
learned  ?  " 

Yet  this  unlettered  man  Mohammed  dominates 
by  his  life  and  teaching  223,000,000  people  in  the 
Eastern  world,  in  not  only  their  religious  life,  but  in 
each  act  of  their  daily  living.  He  made  laws  for 
their  courts  that  are  in  use  to-day,  and  his  regula- 
tions laid  down  in  the  seventh  century  are  implicitly 
followed  in  the  twentieth.  He  has  made  the 
Egyptian  and  the  Turk,  the  Indian  and  the  man 


MOHAMMED'S  INFLUENCE  335 


from  Arabia  raise  their  eyes  to  the  same  God.  He 
taught  them  that  to  all  true  believers  there  is  no 
caste,  and  has  put  the  name  of  Allah  upon  the  lips 
of  every  one  constantly  and  always  with  reverence. 

He  considered  blasphemy  worthy  of  death.  He 
said,  "  A  person  who  blasphemes  against  God  or 
Moses  or  Abraham  or  Christ  or  Mohammed  or  any 
prophet  is  to  be  put  to  death  without  delay,  even 
though  he  repent.  Infidelity  or  apostasy  is  oc- 
casioned by  misjudgment,  but  blasphemy  is  the 
result  of  utter  depravity." 

Mohammed  has  made  men  proud  of  their  religion, 
unashamed  to  spread  their  prayer-rug  at  the  busy 
corner  of  the  street,  and  to  kneel  and  ask  the  blessing 
of  their  God.  He  has  caused  the  ignorant  Fellah  in 
his  field  to  stop  his  labour  and,  beside  his  waiting 
camel,  to  touch  his  head  to  the  sands  while  he 
murmurs  the  name  of  Allah.  It  is  this  name  that 
is  whispered  in  the  ear  of  the  new-born  child,  it  is 
the  last  word  said  to  the  dying  ;  it  is  called  five 
times  a  day  from  the  minarets  and  mosques  of  every 
city  and  town  where  El  Islam  rules  and  claims 
Mohammed  as  the  Prophet.  At  night,  as  the  Moslem 
wakens,  he  hears  the  cry  of  the  watchman  making 
his  round  through  the  narrow  streets,  "  I  extol  the 
perfection  of  the  Living  King,  who  sleepeth  not  nor 


336         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


dieth,"  and  in  the  early  morning  hours  he  hears  the 
muzzein  call : 

God  is  Great, 

There  is  no  God  but  God  ; 

Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of  God  ; 

Come  to  prayer, 

Come  to  Salvation  ; 

To  pray  is  better  than  to  sleep. 

God  is  great ; 

There  is  no  God  but  God. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  COPTIC  RELIGION 

HE  unenlightened  traveller,  on  his  first  visit 


to  the  land  of  the  Nile,  is  accustomed  among 


his  first  questions  to  ask,  "  What  are  the 
Copts  ?  "  He  is  told  vaguely  that  the  Copts  are 
Christians,  that  they  claim  to  be  the  original 
Egyptians,  as  the  Egyptian  Mohammedan  is  an 
Arab  or  of  Arab  descent,  that  they  can  trace  an 
unadulterated  descent  from  the  race  to  whom  the 
civilization  and  culture  of  the  ancient  world  is  so 
largely  due,  and  that  they  became  Christians  under 
the  teaching  of  St.  Peter,  who  placed* St.  Mark  at 
Alexandria  as  the  founder  of  the  Church  which  was 
the  foremost  Church  in  Christendom  for  centuries 
in  energy  and  learning.  Then  the  inquirer  natur- 
ally asks,  "  If  Christianity  has  been  in  Egypt  for 
nearly  two  thousand  years  and  failed  to  materially 
affect  the  Mohammedan  faith,  what  is  the  reason  ? 
Why  send  missionaries  from  the  West  to  a  land 
that  is  already  sprinkled  with  Christianity  ?  " 


337 


338  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


The  Coptic  Church,  from  the  time  of  its  founda- 
tion, rose  in  power  until  the  year  a. d.  457,  when  the 
Egyptian  Pope  was  accused  of  heresy  for  espousing 
the  cause  of  an  old  Abbot  whom  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  excommunicated  for  preaching  what  is 
called  the  Monothysite  heresy,  or  the  doctrine  of  the 
one  nature.  He  taught  that  Christ  was  God  and 
man,  that  both  natures  were  united  in  Him,  and 
that  therefore  it  is  irreverent  to  speak  of  two  natures, 
as  that  implies  imperfect  union — that  Christ  was 
really  God-man.  At  the  end  of  the  controversy 
which  arose  over  this  question  the  national  Church 
of  Egypt  was  disestablished  and  all  property  con- 
fiscated. 

In  a.d.  641  Egypt  passed  under  Moslem  rule.  In 
830  the  Egyptians  made  a  stand  against  the  Moslems, 
but  were  severely  beaten,  all  males  being  put  to 
the  sword  and  the  women  and  children  carried  as 
slaves  to  Bagdad.  From  the  ninth  century  to  the 
nineteenth  the  history  of  the  Copts  has  been  one 
of  constantly  recurring  persecution,  their  churches 
destroyed,  services  prohibited,  books  burned,  and 
elders  imprisoned.  Their  numbers  went  from 
twenty  millions,  until  now  there  are  less  than  one 
million  Copts  in  Egypt. 

To  describe  the  Coptic  Church  of  to-day,  I  can  do 


THE  COPTIC  CHURCH  339 


no  better  than  to  quote  from  the  explicit  account 
of  Lady  Amherst  of  Hackney,  who,  in  her  book 
A  Sketch  of  Egyptian  History,  has  so  vividly  por- 
trayed the  forms  of  this  ancient  order  : 

"  The  Coptic  Church  has  its  Patriarch,  bishops, 
arch-priests,  deacons,  and  monks.  The  Patriarch 
is  chosen  from  among  the  Monks  of  St.  Anthony, 
and  must  be  a  celibate.  There  are  twelve  bishops 
and  many  arch-priests.  A  priest  must  be  without 
blemish,  and,  if  married,  the  husband  of  one  wife. 
He  cannot  marry  after  entering  the  priesthood, 
and  he  must  be  at  least  thirty-three  years  old.  He 
is  supported  by  voluntary  contributions  or  by  his 
own  industry.  A  deacon  must  not  marry  after 
he  has  become  a  deacon.  Monks  usually  begin  their 
religious  life  with  hardship  and  doing  menial  services; 
they  may  not  marry,  and  must  spend  all  their  sub- 
stance in  contributing  to  the  general  good  of  the 
community.  After  his  novitiate  the  monk  is  re- 
ceived into  the  order.  The  prayers  for  the  dead  are 
said  over  him,  and  the  world  is  renounced. 

"  The  Coptic  churches  are  of  basilica  form,  a 
simple  oblong  room  divided  into  four  sections : 
the  chancel  containing  the  altar,  which  is  concealed 
by  a  curtain ;  the  portion  called  the  '  Heikai ' 
(or  sanctuary),  set  apart  for  the  priests  who  read 


340  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


the  lessons,  which  is  generally  separated  from  the 
next  apartment  by  a  screen  of  lattice  work  ;  the 
division  for  the  male  congregation  ;  and,  fourthly, 
the  women's  portion,  which  is  also  completely 
screened.  The  screens  of  the  Heikai  are  often  of 
great  antiquity  and  beauty,  sometimes  carved  or 
inlaid  with  ivory,  and  at  others  covered  with  paint- 
ings. Shoes  are  left  at  the  door,  and  all  the  con- 
gregation make  a  reverence  to  the  altar  after  kissing 
the  hem  of  the  curtain  which  is  before  it.  Nearly 
every  man  takes  a  stick  or  crutch  upon  which  to 
rest,  as  the  long  service  is  very  fatiguing,  and  he 
has  to  stand  nearly  all  the  time.  The  officiating 
priests  wear  handsome  vestments,  consisting  of 
the  alb,  the  cuffs,  the  stole,  the  chasuble  open  in 
the  front,  the  girdle,  and  the  amice,  which  is  a 
long  piece  of  cloth  arranged  over  the  head  so  as  to 
fall  behind  and  before ;  during  the  service  the 
people  are  blessed,  and  censers  with  incense  are 
carried  and  swung  among  the  congregation. 

11  The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  fre- 
quently celebrated.  The  chalice  is  kept  in  an  ark, 
and  a  fan  for  keeping  flies  from  it  is  often  made  of 
silver.  The  bread  is  in  the  form  of  small  round 
cakes,  called  '  korban,'  about  three  inches  in  dia- 
meter and  half  an  inch  thick,  and  all  bear  the  im- 


THE  COPTIC  CHURCH 


341 


pression  of  a  small  Coptic  cross  in  the  centre.  This 
bread  is  brought  to  the  church  and  distributed  by 
the  priests  to  the  people,  before  it  is  consecrated ; 
they  may  either  eat  it  there,  or  take  it  away  with 
them.  The  consecrated  bread  is  moistened  with 
the  wine,  which  is  still  occasionally  made  from 
raisins  crushed  in  water.  At  the  time  of  celebration 
each  communicant  receives  a  small  piece  of  the 
bread  while  standing  outside  the  altar.  The  wine 
is  administered  in  a  spoon.  The  women  wait  inside 
their  screen,  in  which  there  is  a  little  door  to  which 
the  priest  brings  the  elements  and  gives  them  to 
each  applicant  in  turn.  The  Real  Presence  is 
believed  in,  both  in  bread  and  wine.  Before  par- 
taking of  the  Holy  Communion,  confession  is 
absolutely  indispensable,  and  penances  are  imposed 
and  absolution  given  by  the  arch-priest. 

"  Baptism  is  enjoined  at  the  end  of  forty  days 
for  a  boy,  and  eighty  for  a  girl,  if  healthy  ;  if  other- 
wise, sooner.  The  child  is  dipped  three  times  in 
water  in  which  a  little  holy  oil  has  been  mixed. 
Immediately  after  baptism  the  Holy  Communion 
is  given  to  the  infant,  the  priest  dipping  his  finger 
in  the  wine  and  then  touching  its  lips.  Sometimes 
the  child  is  given  milk  and  honey  mixed,  as  a  symbol 
of  admission  to  the  Promised  Land. 


342  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


"  There  are  no  organs  in  the  churches,  the  music 
consisting  of  small  brass  bells  and  triangles.  No 
images  are  allowed,  but  paintings  are  common. 
No  cross  is  placed  on  the  altar,  which  is  small,  and 
four  lights  are  used.  The  kiss  of  peace  forms  part 
of  the  service. 

"  The  domestic  habits  of  the  Copts  differ  little 
from  those  of  the  Moslems,  but  their  marriage 
ceremonies  are  very  unlike  those  of  their  poly- 
gamist  compatriots.  There  are  two  religious  ser- 
vices, the  '  Betrothal '  and  the  '  Coronation.'  The 
first  consists  of  an  exchange  of  rings,  which  are 
blessed  by  the  priest  in  the  presence  of  both  parties. 
This  ceremony  usually  takes  place  at  the  home  of 
a  relation  on  a  Saturday  evening,  when  the  bride- 
groom also  gives  his  bride  a  small  gold  cross.  On 
Sunday  the  '  Coronation '  takes  place  in  the 
church ;  the  bride  is  attired  in  a  white  dress  with 
a  white  veil,  and  the  priest  throws  over  them  a 
large  veil  of  white  silk  or  linen,  symbolical  of  purity. 
Prayers  are  then  offered  and  both  are  annointed 
with  holy  oil.  The  priest  places  a  crown  on  each 
of  their  heads  with  the  words  '  With  glory  and 
honour  the  Father  has  crowned  them ;  the  Son 
blesses  them ;  the  Holy  Ghost  crowns  them,  comes 
down  upon  them,  and  perfects  them.'    After  this 


COPTIC  SACRAMENTS 


343 


they  stand  with  crossed  arms  at  the  door  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  priest  lays  the  golden  cross 
upon  them  and  pronounces  the  absolution.  The 
crowns  belong  to  the  church  and  are  taken  off  before 
leaving  it,  and  the  Holy  Communion  is  sometimes, 
but  not  always,  administered  at  the  close  of  the 
service. 

"  When  any  one  is  very  sick,  he  is  brought  to  the 
church,  and  anointed  with  holy  oil,  and  prayers 
for  his  recovery  are  said.  If  he  is  too  ill  to  come, 
a  proxy  is  found,  and  the  same  form  is  observed. 
The  funeral  services  are  held  in  the  churches,  but 
the  customs  of  wailing  and  fasting  as  soon  as  death 
takes  place  resemble  those  of  the  Moslems.  After 
the  service  the  procession  forms;  headed  by  the 
sexton  carrying  a  large  cross  of  silver,  and,  followed 
by  the  choir  boys  and  priests,  the  bier  and  mourners 
proceed  to  the  cemetery." 

In  visiting  Egyptian  schools  or  churches  the 
visitor  will  find  it  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
the  Copts  and  the  Moslems,  as  their  general  ap- 
pearance is  the  same.  Their  dress  is  usually  a  black 
or  blue  cotton  gown  over  their  shirts,  with  a  turban 
of  black  or  blue,  which  they  were  compelled  to  wear 
in  order  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Mussulman 
with  his  white  turban.    Now  it  is  hard  to  distin- 


344  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


guish  them  even  by  their  turbans,  as  both 
Mohammedans  and  Copts  have  adopted  the  tarboosh 
or  Turkish  fez.  The  Coptic  woman  veils  her  face 
and  keeps  herself  secluded  the  same  as  her  Mo- 
hammedan sister,  although  the  restrictions  are  not 
so  severe  for  her  as  are  enjoined  upon  the  followers 
of  Mohammed.  The  Moslem  pilgrimage  to  Mecca 
has  a  counterpart  in  the  Coptic  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem,  a  caravan  starting  for  the  Holy  City  in 
time  for  Passion  week  or  Easter. 

The  Copts  pride  themselves  on  having  kept  alive 
old  traditions  of  education  and  culture,  and  that 
they  have  preserved  the  Christian  conception  of 
family  life.  In  learning  and  in  the  intellectual 
alertness  with  which  he  has  adapted  himself  to 
Western  education  and  to  Western  business,  the 
Copt  has  proved  to  be  quite  equal  if  not  superior  to 
the  Moslem.  The  literacy  of  the  Egyptian  Moham- 
medan is  78  per  1,000  males  and  2  per  1,000  females, 
while  that  of  the  Copt  is  188  per  1,000  males  and 
16  per  1,000  females.  In  visiting  the  girls'  schools 
the  teachers  repeatedly  told  me  that  the  Coptic 
girls  stood  at  the  head  of  their  classes. 

If  the  Moslems  have  influenced  the  Copts  re- 
ligiously, the  Copts  have  certainly  influenced  them 
from  a  commercial  standpoint.    In  Upper  Egypt 


FAMILY  LIFE  OF  THE  COPTS  345 


nearly  all  the  large  business  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
Copts,  and  they  have  made  themselves  indispensable 
to  their  Moslem  neighbours.  The  rich  live  in  palatial 
homes,  furnished  with  every  modern  convenience. 
The  women  and  girls  take  part  in  the  modern  life 
very  much  as  do  the  Western  women,  they  are 
skilful  on  the  piano,  read  Browning  and  Tennyson, 
and  are  often  capable  of  fluent  conversation  in  both 
English  and  French. 

While  visiting  in  a  Coptic  home  in  Assiut,  the 
father,  with  true  fatherly  pride,  brought  me  some 
poems  that  his  daughter  had  composed  in  English. 
They  were  full  of  a  weird  beauty,  a  mingling  of  the 
West  and  the  East,  that  seemed  incredible  to  have 
come  from  the  pen  of  a  little  Coptic  maid  knowing 
only  the  narrow  life  of  an  Egyptian  home. 

As  one  goes  through  Egypt  and  becomes  ac- 
quainted with  the  Egyptian  press  and  the  Egyptian 
sentiment,  one  will  scarcely  find  stronger  feelings 
expressed  than  those  concerning  the  differences  of 
opinion  between  Moslem  and  Copt,  although  the 
leaders  will  tell  you  that  there  is  a  tendency  to 
unify  and  join  forces  upon  common  issues.  The 
Copts  feel  that  the  English  Government  shows 
partiality  in  its  dealings  with  the  Mohammedans, 
who  are  given  Government  positions  where  the 


346         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


Copt  is  barred,  that  they  are  left  unrepresented 
upon  the  Provincial  councils,  that  no  Government 
grants  are  bestowed  upon  Coptic  institutions,  and 
what  touches  the  mothers,  and  a  subject  upon  which 
they  can  wax  most  eloquent,  that  the  Koran  is 
taught  in  the  Government  primary  schools  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  sacred  book  of  the  Copts.  They 
say  that  they  pay  16  per  cent,  of  the  educational 
tax,  and  should  have  a  right  to  demand  that  their 
children  receive  a  certain  religious  instruction,  in 
accordance  with  that  tax.  The  women  have 
another  grievance,  that  Friday,  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Moslem,  is  observed  to  the  exclusion  of  Sunday,  the 
Coptic  holy  day,  and  that  their  husbands  and  sons 
must  work  on  their  day  of  rest  if  employed  in 
Government  work  or  if  in  school. 

I  was  not  especially  interested  in  the  political 
quarrels  between  the  Copts  and  Moslems,  but  if 
religion  is  to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools  at  all, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  there  should  be  some  adequate 
and  definite  arrangement,  by  which  the  Coptic 
girls  and  boys,  of  the  country  districts  especially, 
would  find  an  opportunity  of  instruction  in  their 
own  faith  by  the  Coptic  priests,  rather  than  being 
subjected  entirely  to  the  influence  of  the  Koranic 
schools. 


COPTS  VERSUS  MOSLEMS  347 


The  charge  is  brought  against  the  Copts  that 
they  have  not  executive  ability,  that  they  cannot 
govern  nor  obtain  obedience  when  put  in  positions 
of  power,  and  that  in  many  ways  they  are  not  so 
trustworthy  as  the  Mohammedans.  If  these  charges 
are  true,  and  there  are  many  differing  opinions  on 
the  subject,  they  are  faults  which  in  a  great  measure 
are  the  result  of  a  continual  struggle  for  self-pre- 
servation. That  there  is,  and  that  there  has  been 
through  many  generations,  real  virility  in  the  Coptic 
people  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  have  triumphed 
over  a  multitude  of  difficulties,  enduring  centuries 
of  oppression  and  changing  rule,  never  wavering 
from  the  faith  which  they  hold  to-day,  and  which 
is  made  tangible  in  nearly  five  hundred  churches 
and  nine  hundred  priests. 

When  you  pass  through  Egypt  and  see  the  little 
blue  cross  tattooed  upon  the  arm  or  the  face  of  a 
child  or  woman,  you  may  know  that  they  are 
members  of  the  same  faith  as  yourself,  although 
many  of  its  forms  and  customs  have  been  changed 
to  meet  the  conditions  surrounding  it,  and  to  which 
it  has  had  to  bend,  although  it  has  never  been 
entirely  broken. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


EGYPT  AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 

HERE  is  little  doubt  that  from  the  point  of 


view  of  the  evangelization  of  the  Moham- 


medans in  Egypt,  missionary  zeal  has  met 
with  small  success  when  compared  with  results  in 
other  lands.  There  have  been  many  difficulties  to 
overcome  and  not  enough  workers  to  cover  the  field. 

It  was  found  that  there  was  in  all  Egypt  but  one 
Evangelical  Christian  Church  member  to  every 
58  Orthodox  Copts,  and  to  every  895  Mohammedans. 
Of  the  10,269,449  Mohammedans,  it  is  not  thought 
that  the  existing  agencies  of  all  Christian  missions 
in  Egypt  are  reaching  more  than  1,000,000  ;  and  of 
3,621  towns  and  villages,  not  more  than  360  have 
any  regular  missionary  work  carried  on  in  them. 
The  American  Mission  has  been  in  Egypt  for  sixty 
years  and  can  show  but  12,044  members  of  the 
Church,  less  than  200  of  them  converts  from  the 
Moslem  faith. 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  349 


The  task  of  Christian  missions  in  Egypt  and  the 
Soudan  is  a  gigantic  one.  Here  is  an  Oriental  re- 
ligion which  enrols  in  its  membership  throughout 
the  world  no  less  than  223,000,000  people,  and  which 
is  making  a  determined  stand  in  certain  parts  of 
the  Soudan  to  hold  and  increase  its  native  con- 
stituency. It  is  a  land  where  a  Moslem  accepts 
another  faith  with  much  hazard  to  his  career  and 
often  to  his  life.  "  We  have  been  obliged  to  re- 
peatedly move  our  converts  from  place  to  place 
to  ensure  their  physical  safety,"  said  a  missionary 
in  Northern  Egypt. 

Furthermore  the  rapid  Westernization  of  Egypt 
has  increased  in  certain  respects  rather  than 
diminished  the  task  of  missions.  The  Egyptian 
youth,  both  boys  and  girls,  who  have  come  into 
contact  with  Government  and  mission  schools  have 
shown  a  tendency  to  discredit  their  Islamic  teaching. 
Students  have  discovered  that  modern  science  and 
the  medieval  seventh-century  teaching  of  the 
Koran  are  incompatible.  They  have  been  con- 
fronted with  an  inevitable  choice  between  the 
Koran  and  the  present-day  points  of  view,  and  the 
teaching  of  the  former  has  been  compelled  to  yield 
place  to  the  new  knowledge  found  within  their 
text-books. 
17 


350         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


This  would  seem  to  be  an  ally  of  the  missionary 
worker,  but,  like  students  in  many  other  parts  of 
the  Eastern  world,  this  losing  faith  in  their  own 
gods  has  only  brought  about  agnosticism  or  indiffer- 
ence to  any  religion.  The  young  Egyptians,  like 
the  young  Japanese,  are  saying,  "  We  can  take  your 
Western  civilization  in  so  far  as  it  helps  us  to  under- 
stand the  needs  of  the  modern  life,  but  we  take  it 
without  allegiance  to  your  Western  religion,  the 
acceptance  of  which  would  set  us  at  variance  with 
the  majority  sentiment  of  our  country."  And  they 
often  add,  "  And  so  far  as  we  can  see  by  studying  the 
examples  of  Western  Christianity  which  we  meet  in 
the  social  and  business  life  of  our  cities,  your  religion 
would  add  but  little  to  our  satisfaction." 

A  further  barrier  to  Christian  sentiment  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  the  ruling  policy  of  the  occupying 
Power  in  Egypt  is  neutral  as  regards  religion,  or, 
when  it  is  partisan,  is  inclined  to  favour  Moham- 
medanism rather  than  Christianity,  in  a  land  where 
94  per  cent,  of  the  population  adhere  to  the  Moslem 
tenets. 

Another  obstacle  to  Moslem  conversion  to  Chris- 
tianity lies  in  the  fact  that  most  of  the  gains  of  the 
Christian  missions  in  Egypt  have  been  from  the 
ranks  of  the  Coptic  Church,  who  are  religiously 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  351 


the  hereditary  foes  of  the  Mohammedans,  and  whose 
adherence  to  any  particular  thought  or  action 
would  be  a  reason  for  the  Moslem  to  discredit  the 
same. 

Although  the  Christian  missions  can  show  few 
converts  to  their  faith  from  among  the  followers  of 
the  Prophet  Mohammed,  their  influence  has  been 
great,  and  too  much  cannot  be  said  for  the  excellent 
work  they  have  been  doing  through  their  schools, 
hospitals,  and  work  among  the  secluded  women,  for 
the  making  of  higher  standards  of  living,  both 
socially  and  individually. 

In  the  evangelization  of  a  foreign  land  the 
methods  are  adapted  to  the  needs  of  that  land. 
Missionary  work  in  Egypt  is  not  the  same  as  in 
other  countries.  Street  preaching  is  not  found  in 
Egypt  as  it  is  in  India,  because  it  is  forbidden  by 
law.  Also  in  India  there  are  few  chances  for  close 
relationship  between  the  missionary  and  the  native, 
because  of  the  caste  prejudices,  while  in  Egypt 
there  are  no  such  restrictions,  the  missionary  and 
his  Egyptian  friend  having  the  same  chances  of 
companionship  as  they  would  have  if  brothers  of 
the  same  race.  Because  of  the  peculiar  conditions 
of  Egypt,  where  so  great  a  degree  of  the  population 
is  found  in  towns  and  good-sized  villages,  the  mis- 


352         THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


sionary  is  engaged  not  so  much  in  dealing  with 
the  individual  as  with  the  tendency  to  become  an 
administrator,  supervising  the  institutions  which 
have  been  established  through  missionary  zeal  in 
all  parts  of  the  country  of  the  Nile. 

The  chief  agents  in  missionary  work  in  Egypt  are 
the  missionary,  the  colporteur,  the  evangelist,  the 
school  teacher,  the  harem  worker,  and  the  native 
pastor. 

The  literary  and  colporteur  work  is  the  beginning 
of  all  missionary  effort.  The  first  task  of  the  mis- 
sionary is  to  give  to  the  people  among  whom  he 
labours  the  text -book  of  his  religion.  In  Egypt  this 
part  of  the  work  of  missions  has  been  easier  than  in 
many  other  lands,  because  the  Copts  believe  in  the 
Bible  as  the  Word  of  God,  though  they  may  know 
little  of  its  real  teachings.  The  Moslems  are,  in  a  way, 
committed  to  the  Bible,  because  the  Koran  endorses 
both  the  Prophet  and  the  Gospels.  The  Oriental 
is  a  firm  believer  in  Divine  revelation  and  inspired 
words,  and  any  book  claiming  to  be  the  Word  of  God 
has  his  reverence.  The  religion  of  the  Bible  has  an 
advantage  over  the  religion  of  the  Koran,  in  that 
it  has  been  translated  into  all  dialects  and  languages, 
while  the  Koran,  written  in  Arabic  and  not  allowed 
translation  by  order  of  the  Prophet,  is  intelligible 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  KORAN  353 


to  only  45,000,000  of  the  223,000,000  who  profess 
faith  in  its  teachings. 

Bible  and  tracts  are  taken  to  hundreds  of  towns 
and  villages,  and  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives 
that  have  never  seen  a  foreign  missionary.  The 
Bible  is  carried  across  the  desert  in  the  camel  trains 
that  bring  the  produce  of  the  cities  to  the  dwellers 
beneath  the  tents,  and  it  is  taken  in  the  Nile  boats 
far  up  that  river  and  its  tributaries  to  the  black 
man  in  the  Soudan,  where  it  awakens  interest  and 
discussion  among  the  villagers,  even  if  its  message 
is  never  understood  or  followed. 

The  educational  method  has  been  the  dominant 
note  in  missionary  work  in  Egypt.  It  has  advant- 
ages over  all  other  forms  of  missionary  labour,  as  it 
has  the  opportunity  of  influencing  life  at  the  most 
impressionable  age.  For  weeks  at  a  time  and  for 
five  or  six  days  a  week,  and  for  several  hours  each 
day,  the  young  Egyptian  is  brought  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  Christian  atmosphere,  and  each  day 
receives  some  definite  instruction  in  the  tenets  of 
the  Christian  faith.  Where  the  school  is  a  boarding 
school,  the  influence  upon  life  is  much  greater.  Here 
the  boy  or  girl  is  completely  freed  from  the  often 
debasing  influence  of  the  home  life,  and  the  seed 
planted  by  the  missionary  is  given  opportunity  to 


354  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


grow  and  take  root,  often  resulting  in  the  develop- 
ment of  a  fine  character,  if  not  in  actual  allegiance 
to  the  religion  from  the  West. 

The  educational  methods  also  disarm  prejudice. 
There  is  a  great  thirst  and  desire  abroad  in  all  the 
East  for  education.  The  men  are  becoming  edu- 
cated and  demand  educated  wives,  the  economic 
pressure  demands  that  men  shall  have  Western 
learning  if  they  hope  to  succeed  in  the  life  of  to-day, 
and  parents,  both  Coptic  and  Moslem,  are  willing 
and  anxious  to  have  their  children  receive  the 
excellent  education  for  which  the  mission  schools  in 
Egypt  are  noted.  The  opinion  of  the  better  class 
Egyptian  with  reference  to  the  mission  schools  is 
voiced  in  the  speech  of  the  Governor  of  the  Province 
of  Assiut  in  regard  to  the  college  maintained  by  the 
American  Mission  in  the  city  of  Assiut : 

"  I  am  able  to  say  that  both  the  city  of  Assiut 
and  the  whole  Province  have  derived  a  very  great 
deal  of  help  from  the  presence  of  this  institution. 
Through  its  influence  thousands  of  our  young  men 
have  been  trained  into  chaste  and  noble  characters. 
Many  of  them  have  entered  the  school  from  most 
humble  homes,  often  indeed  from  homes  of  poverty, 
and  they  are  now  living  in  comfortable  and  honour- 
able stations  of  life.    Some  are  occupying  positions 


MISSION  SCHOOLS  355 


of  trust  in  the  Government  both  in  Egypt  and  the 
Soudan,  others  have  entered  business  life  and  agricul- 
ture, and  others  have  become  educators  and  ministers 
of  the  Gospel.  And  I  have  become  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  excellent  life  and  fidelity  of  every  one 
of  them  with  whom  I  have  become  personally 
acquainted.  In  closing,  I  desire  to  repeat  that 
this  institution  has  been  and  is  indeed  a  great 
blessing  to  the  whole  Province  of  which  I  have  the 
honour  to  be  the  Governor." 

The  Egyptians  take  all  that  is  offered  them  in 
the  line  of  education  with  most  grateful  hearts, 
because  of  their  extreme  necessity.  Egypt  is  one 
of  the  most  illiterate  lands,  and,  now  they  find  they 
are  handicapped  in  competition  with  other  nations, 
because  of  their  ignorance,  and  they  have  been 
wise  enough  to  notice,  that  along  with  the  mis- 
sionary came  the  school-book,  so  the  teacher  has 
been  received  with  open  doors  where  the  evangelist 
has  been  looked  upon  coldly  if  not  persecuted. 
They  have  seen  that  among  their  people  in  general 
only  about  85  out  of  1,000  men  and  3  from  1,000 
women  could  read  and  write,  while  from  the  Pro- 
testant communities  of  22,500  people,  there  were 
521  out  of  every  1,000  men  and  200  out  of  every 
1,000  women  who  could  read. 


356  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


That  the  Egyptians  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
educational  facilities  brought  them  from  foreign 
lands  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  American 
Mission  report  of  1912  records  5,517  girls  and  11,434 
boys  in  their  schools,  which  is  only  a  few  thousands 
less  than  those  enrolled  in  the  Government  schools. 
The  College  of  Assiut  has  had  under  its  influence 
during  its  establishment  4,000  different  individuals. 
Over  200  have  taken  the  full  course  and  graduated, 
going  out  into  the  world  as  ministers,  business  men, 
and  teachers. 

Each  year  finds  the  girls'  schools  more  firmly 
established,  and  the  teachings  of  the  missionary 
carried  into  homes  impossible  even  for  the  harem 
worker  to  penetrate.  Many  Mohammedan  mothers 
send  their  girls  to  the  Christian  school,  believing 
as  a  firm  follower  of  the  teaching  of  the  Prophet 
said  to  me,  "  I  send  my  daughter  to  the  Mission 
school,  as  I  wish  her  to  have  the  Western  knowledge 
that  is  necessary  for  an  Egyptian  girl  to  have  at 
the  present  time,  if  she  wishes  to  make  a  suitable 
marriage.  I  do  not  fear  their  religious  teaching  as 
my  daughter  has  been  well  taught  in  the  true 
religion  at  home,  and  nothing  they  can  say  will 
influence  her."  Yet  the  Christian  atmosphere 
surrounding  this  girl  throughout  her  days  passed 


EGYPTIAN  COLLEGES  359 


in  the  school,  is  bound  to  have  an  influence  upon 
her  life,  if  it  does  not  altogether  shake  her  belief  in 
the  teaching  of  Mohammed,  whose  attitude  towards 
woman  is  so  different  from  the  attitude  taken  by 
the  Christ. 

I  visited  with  a  missionary  worker  the  home  of 
one  of  her  pupils,  who  had  married.  She  wel- 
comed us  eagerly,  and  took  us  up  to  her  bed-sitting- 
room,  as  the  only  other  room  in  the  house,  the 
kitchen,  was  almost  entirely  occupied  by  an  enor- 
mous bowl  filled  with  bread  in  the  process  of  being 
kneaded.  She  brought  from  out  a  box  a  small 
Bible,  and  seemed  delighted  to  join  with  the  mis- 
sionary in  a  short  study  of  one  of  its  chapters, 
although  she  was  not  an  acknowledged  Christian. 
Her  husband,  a  professional  chanter  of  the  Koran, 
came  in  and  sat  down,  listening  respectfully  to  the 
words  of  the  Bible,  as  it  was  read  verse  by  verse, 
first  by  his  wife,  then  by  the  missionary,  and  when 
the  latter  asked  if  she  might  pray,  he  sat  with 
lowered  eyes  and  waited  until  the  final  Amen  ;  then 
he  said  good-bye,  as  he  was  going  to  a  wedding 
where  he  was  to  sing,  in  company  with  five  others, 
the  words  of  his  Prophet.  As  I  watched  his  kindli- 
ness and  tolerance  of  a  religion  in  which  he  did  not 
believe,  I  wondered  if  we  of  the  Western  world 


360 


THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


would  listen  as  respectfully  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Arabian  Prophet,  if  it  were  brought  to  our  homes  by 
zealous  missionaries  of  that  faith. 

The  medical  work  is  carried  on  by  visiting  the 
villages,  by  clinics,  and  by  hospitals.  The  last  is 
the  most  important,  yet  is  so  closely  allied  to  the 
others,  that  they  seem  to  be  one.  There  are  four 
missionary  hospitals  in  Egypt  in  the  American 
Mission,  two  for  women  and  two  for  men.  Through 
the  medical  work  access  is  readily  gained  to  the  lives 
of  the  people,  because  where  there  is  pain  and 
misery,  there  is  no  distinction  in  the  God  that  brings 
relief.  The  Egyptians  may  not  believe  in  the  words 
read  to  them  from  the  Bible,  as  they  sit  in  the 
waiting-rooms  of  the  hospital,  but  they  do  believe 
in  the  healing  power  of  the  medicines  brought  by 
religious  zeal,  from  over  the  seas,  and  that  they 
take  advantage  of  the  help  brought  to  them  is 
shown  in  the  fact  that  in  191 2  the  total  number  of 
patients  in  hospitals  and  clinics  was  62,709. 

One  of  the  most  important  workers  along  evangel- 
istic lines,  and  practically  the  only  one  who  comes 
in  contact  with  the  women  of  Egypt,  is  the  harem 
worker.  Because  of  the  seclusion  of  Moslem  women 
and  their  inaccessibility  to  men,  the  need  for  harem 
work  is  most  strong,  if  the  mothers  are  to  be  reached. 


EGYPTIAN  CHURCH-WOMEN  361 


Among  Moslems  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  woman 
to  make  a  confession  of  belief  in  the  Christian  faith, 
and  it  was  not  many  years  ago  that  the  elders  of 
some  of  the  Protestant  congregations  debated 
seriously  whether  women  could  be  admitted  to 
Church  membership  without  degrading  the  Church 
and  lowering  its  standards.  To-day  there  are  over 
3,950  women  in  the  membership  of  the  Protestant 
Church  in  Egypt.  There  are  thirty-five  women  in 
one  mission  alone  who  spend  their  time  in  visiting 
in  the  homes,  where  they  not  only  read  to  the 
women,  but  also  give  them  regular  lessons  so  that 
they  may  read  to  themselves  and  help  pass  the 
many  hours  that  are  bound  to  bring  weariness 
and  ennui  to  the  woman  kept  closely  confined 
within  the  house.  In  last  year's  report  there 
were  5,372  women  receiving  instruction  in  their 
homes. 

All  missionary  work  claims  to  be  evangelistic. 
That  is  the  reason  of  its  being,  to  proclaim  the 
Gospel,  and  it  is  done  in  Egypt  by  the  foreign  or 
native  evangelist,  the  native  pastor,  and  the  harem 
worker.  In  the  larger  towns  are  churches  with 
their  regular  congregations  and  their  pastors,  and 
church  officials,  very  much  as  we  see  them  at  home, 
but  in  the  smaller  villages  and  towns  the  Message 


362  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


is  brought  the  people  by  the  ardent  disciples  who 
wish  to  give  to  others  what  they  believe  has  brought 
them  peace  and  help  in  time  of  trouble.  Some  of 
these  converted  Egyptians  are  most  zealous  in 
going  from  village  to  village,  reading  to  any  group 
that  will  listen  to  them,  and  giving  tracts  and 
extracts  from  the  Bible  to  inquirers. 

There  are  several  missionary  societies  working 
in  Egypt,  foremost  among  them  being  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  of  Great  Britain,  the  United 
Presbyterian  Mission  of  America,  and  several  minor 
missions,  all  doing  noble  work.  It  is  objected  at 
times  that  the  majority  of  the  conversions  are  from 
the  membership  of  the  Coptic  Church,  and  there 
are  those  who  challenge  the  right  of  the  missionary 
to  work  among  the  adherents  of  this  faith,  saying 
that  they  are  already  Christians.  The  missionary 
answers  that  this  Church  has  degenerated  until  it 
is  now  only  living  in  its  past,  that  it  has  left  its 
pure  worship,  and  has  allowed  its  spirit  to  be  com- 
pletely engulfed  in  ritual  and  dead  forms  that  mean 
less  than  nothing  to  those  who  have  been  born 
within  its  fold.  It  has  lost  its  power  to  make 
converts  from  its  more  virile  neighbours,  and  can- 
not even  be  said  to  be  holding  its  own,  and,  unless 
something  comes  to  revitalize  it,  will  ultimately 


MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES  363 


become  either  totally  extinct,  or  else  simply  a  part 
of  the  Mohammedan  life  around  it. 

Whether  or  not  one  believes  in  the  eventual 
Christianization  of  the  world,  one  is  convinced 
that  the  Christian  missionary  has  been  the  pioneer 
who  has  opened  new  pathways  in  the  field  of  educa- 
tion, and  caused  the  youth  of  Egypt  to  demand 
a  higher  learning  throughout  the  land.  This 
aggressive  religion  from  the  West  is  bound  to  raise 
the  religibus  plane  of  whatever  country  it  touches, 
by  forcing  other  faiths  to  resume  higher  and  higher 
forms  in  order  to  survive. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  EGYPTIAN  QUESTION  AND  THE  EGYPTIAN 
WOMAN 

r^HE  question  of  Egypt  is  to-day,  "  What  of  the 


Egyptian  woman  ?  "    In  her  character  and 


in  her  environment  lie  the  great  secret  of 
Egypt's  future.  It  is  a  period  when  women  are 
coming  to  their  own  in  recognized  influence  and 
leadership  in  the  Western  world,  when  the  women 
of  England  with  their  rights  and  their  wrongs  form 
one  of  the  dominating  subjects  of  universal  dis- 
cussion, when  womanhood  in  America  has  for  the 
first  time  in  history  been  elevated  to  the  platform 
of  political  parties.  It  is  a  time  indeed  when  a 
considerable  part  of  the  social  and  religious  move- 
ment of  every  civilized  land  owes  its  initial  impulse 
and  much  of  its  propaganda  to  women  who  have 
been  set  free  economically  as  well  as  intellectually 
by  their  self-reliant  work  and  independent  thinking. 
In  this  period  of  the  renaissance  of  the  world's 


364 


THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN'S  FUTURE  365 


womankind,  what  is  to  be  the  fate  of  the  woman  of 
Egypt  ?  She  has  had  a  past  in  the  land  of  the 
Pharaohs.  Will  she  have  a  future  ?  If  so,  upon 
what  conditions  ? 

But  an  historian  will  say  that  this  rebirth  of 
woman's  force  and  woman's  faculties  is  occurring 
solely  in  the  West  ;  the  Eastern  woman  cannot 
rise  even  if  she  would.  She  is  bound  too  closely 
in  the  skein  of  century-old  observance. 

While  this  argument  might  be  injured  through  a 
study  of  the  women  in  the  Far  East  who  are  begin- 
ning to  match  the  new  constitutional  advances  by 
their  own  emancipation  in  both  educational  and 
domestic  life,  an  instance  nearer  to  the  Egyptian 
woman's  own  home  may  be  cited.  The  women  of 
Persia,  in  both  custom  and  religion  the  Egyptian 
women's  sisters,  have  recently  revealed  the  in- 
herent essence  and  the  ever-ready  possibilities  of 
the  Mohammedan  woman  toward  patriotism  and 
genuine  idealism.  I  quote  from  Mr.  Morgan 
Shuster's  graphic  account  of  the  rise  of  the  Persian 
woman  in  defence  of  her  country. 

During  the  dark  days  in  which  Russian  antagonism 
was  taking  every  conceivable  form  to  annihilate  the 
Persian  Assembly,  when  the  bazaars  and  the  streets 
were  torn  by  conflicting  rumours  and  anxious  fears, 


366  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 

at  a  moment  when  it  seemed  that  the  liberties  of 
the  people  must  be  thrown  away  by  the  Persian 
men  because  of  the  terrific  force  brought  to  bear 
upon  them,  the  long-slumbering  wills  of  the  women 
of  Persia  were  kindled  into  passionate  activity. 
The  following  are  Mr.  Shuster's  words  : 

"  Comes  forward  now  the  Persian  woman  !  Out 
from  their  walled  courtyards  and  harems  march 
three  hundred  of  that  weak  sex,  with  the  flush  of 
undying  determination  in  their  cheeks.  They  were 
clad  in  their  plain  black  robes,  with  the  white  net 
of  their  veils  dropping  over  their  faces.  Many  held 
pistols  under  their  skirts  or  in  the  folds  of  their 
sleeves.  Straight  to  the  Assembly  they  went,  and, 
gathered  there,  demanded  of  the  President  that  he 
admit  them  all.  What  the  grave  deputies  of  the 
Land  of  the  Lion  and  the  Sun  may  have  thought  of 
this  strange  visitation,  history  saith  not.  The 
President  consented  to  receive  a  delegation  of  them. 
In  his  reception-hall  they  confronted  him,  and  lest 
he  and  his  colleagues  should  doubt  their  meaning, 
these  cloistered  Persian  mothers,  wives,  and  daughters 
showed  their  revolvers  threateningly,  tore  aside 
their  veils,  and  confessed  their  decision  to  kill  then- 
own  husbands  and  sons,  and  add  their  own  dead 
bodies  to  the  sacrifice,  if  the  deputies  should  waver 


PERSIAN  HEROINES  367 


in  their  duties  to  uphold  the  liberty  and  dignity  of  the 
Persian  people  and  nation. 

"  A  week  or  two  later  the  Assembly  was  destroyed 
by  a  coup  d'etat  executed  by  Russian  hirelings,  but 
its  members  were  stainless  of  having  sold  their 
country's  birthright. 

"  All  honour  to  the  veiled  women  of  Persia  ! 
With  the  constraining  conditions  of  the  past  about 
them,  with  the  idea  of  absolute  dependence  upon 
the  fancy  and  caprice  of  men  ever  before  them, 
deprived  of  all  opportunity  to  educate  themselves 
after  modern  ideals,  watched,  guarded,  and  rebuffed, 
they  offered  up  their  daily  contribution  to  their 
country's  cause,  watching  its  servants  each  moment 
with  a  mother's  jealous  eyes,  and  failed  not,  even 
in  the  grim,  tragic  hour  when  men's  hearts  grew 
weak  and  the  palsying  dread  of  the  prison  and  its 
tortures,  the  noose  and  the  bullet,  had  settled 
heavy  on  the  bravest  of  the  land. 

"  The  dearest  hopes  of  the  Persian  people  have 
been  cruelly  smothered,  but  the  memory  of  their 
heroic  women  will  live  to  inspire  mankind  wherever 
the  love  of  justice  dwells  in  the  hearts  of  men." 

Yet  however  essentially  true  and  great  may  be 
the  woman  of  the  East,  she  must  needs  look  to  the 
man  of  the  East  in  her  struggle  for  rehabilitation. 
18 


868  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


Whether  she  knows  it  or  not,  the  first  question 
of  the  Egyptian  woman  as  regards  her  future  is 
the  question  of  the  Egyptian  man.  He  is  the 
master  of  her  fate,  almost  the  captain  of  her  soul 
in  this  Oriental  world.  Womanhood  must  first 
shine  by  reflected  light,  the  light  which  is  cast 
upon  her  from  the  advancing  progress  of  Egyptian 
husbands,  Egyptian  brothers,  and  Egyptian  sons. 
Her  past  must  be  especially  illumined  by  the  light 
that  is  revealed  in  the  advance  of  the  new  generation. 
The  boys  and  girls  studying  together  in  modern 
schools  for  the  sake  of  handwork  and  mental  train- 
ing are  doing  much  to  change  the  atmosphere  of 
the  home  from  medievalism  to  modernity,  but  the 
heads  of  the  household  are  in  the  last  analysis  the 
deciding  factors. 

These  men  of  Egypt  have  already  made  long 
strides  toward  a  formidable  impact  and  competition 
with  the  men  of  other  nations.  They  have  entered 
with  formidable  force  the  markets  of  the  world. 
They  have  laid  an  agricultural  and  industrial  founda- 
tion during  the  past  thirty  years  of  the  British 
Occupancy  which  has  brought  a  decadent  race 
numbering  but  a  few  millions  to  a  progressing,  pros- 
perous people  of  12,000,000,  incorporating  amongst 
themselves  the  signs  of  modern  progress  as  revealed 


EGYPTIAN  PROGRESS  369 


in  education,  legislative  justice,  economic  welfare, 
and  betterment,  together  with  that  which  is  even 
more  phenomenal  here,  a  tendency  to  desire,  at 
least,  an  adaptation  of  their  Moslem  faith  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  modern  day. 

The  men  of  Egypt  have  broken  across  the  barriers 
of  a  constricted  land,  and,  although  as  yet  they 
have  travelled  without  their  wives,  they  nevertheless 
have  become  familiar,  through  frequent  visits  to 
Europe  and  America,  with  Western  thought  and 
Western  ideals,  all  of  which  are  making  for  advance- 
ment and  change.  They  are  learning  that  to  be 
on  an  equality  with  Western  nations  they  must 
observe  the  rules  both  of  trade  and  also  of  social 
decorum.  The  travellers  and  students  and  business 
men  who  are  now  coming  to  Egypt  in  ever-increasing 
numbers  are  bringing  to  the  heretofore  secluded 
self-satisfied  Egyptian  inhabitants  the  breath  of 
outside  civilization. 

The  man  of  Egypt  who  twenty-five  years  ago  wore 
a  robe  and  turban  has  exchanged  them  for  the 
more  modern  tarboosh  and  for  what  Mr.  Edward 
Dicey  would  call  "  divine  pantaloons ! "  The 
man  who  sent  his  boy  to  El  Azhar  now  sends  him 
to  an  up-to-date  Government  school  not  unlike 
institutions  that  may  be  found  in  Prussia,  France, 


370  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


or  New  England.  The  man  who  was  content  to 
ride  nonchalantly  through  the  streets  of  Cairo  or 
Alexandria  upon  a  donkey,  now  whirls  down  the 
boulevards  in  his  automobile.  Even  the  Fellaheen 
and  the  Bedouin  in  the  remoter  rural  districts  are 
not  unfamiliar  with  the  telephone  which  connects 
the  homes  and  offices  of  their  officials  with  European 
commercial  centres,  while  the  Arab  newspapers  that 
even  a  decade  ago  only  dealt  with  local  news  and 
Koranic  matters  are  beginning  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  readers  for  national  and  international  in- 
formation. When  a  foreigner  appears  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  the  native  Egyptian  will  ask  him  about 
the  cost  of  travel,  the  price  of  trade  products  in  his 
country,  while  one  is  often  astonished  at  the  actual 
knowledge  revealed  by  Egyptian  men  concerning 
military  and  political  proceedings  throughout  Europe 
and  the  Western  world. 

Even  more  important  than  all  perhaps,  not  simply 
to  Egyptian  men,  but  to  the  women  as  well,  is  the 
economic  emancipation  of  Egypt.  For  the  first 
time  in  centuries,  if  not  in  the  sweep  of  history,  the 
Egyptian  has  a  just  and  safe  pride  of  commercial 
and  industrial  wealth-getting.  Without  fear  he 
can  now  talk  piastres,  he  can  invest  his  money  in 
savings-banks  or  in  the  unusually  productive  land 


A  PROSPEROUS  OUTLOOK  371 


which  is  being  reclaimed  by  modern  systems  of 
irrigation,  and  he  is  bound  to  share  with  his  house- 
hold this  material  prosperity.  With  all  this  re- 
versal of  attitude,  whether  revealed  in  Western 
furniture  in  the  home  or  a  more  lenient  attitude 
to  the  lady  therein,  the  man  of  Egypt  is  hastening 
the  day  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the  Egyptian 
woman  and  every  step  onward  toward  Europeaniza- 
tion  means  definite  progress  in  the  liberties  and  the 
life  of  the  women  of  Egypt. 

Scarcely  second  in  importance  to  the  state  of  mind 
of  the  Egyptian  man  is  the  rising  up  of  the  woman 
of  Egypt  to  accept  her  new  advantages — to  enter 
into  her  new  day.  She  is  not  yet  ready  for  it  all. 
She  must  become  capable  of  her  new  empire  lest 
she  may  injure  more  than  she  inspires.  She  must 
have  both  assistance  and  time,  with  which  to 
prepare  for  high  Egyptian  womanhood ;  it  is  a  long 
step  from  her  present  state  even  to  the  dignity  and 
lofty  equality  possessed  by  the  ancient  Egyptian 
women. 

Her  baneful  past  has  brought  to  her  habits  of 
idleness  and  desultoriness,  especially  in  the  higher 
caste  woman,  which  must  be  converted  into  habits 
of  disciplined  occupation.  Her  cleverness  has  been 
aimed  at  deceit  and  intrigue,  her  chief  weapons  for 


372  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


self-defence  and  the  accomplishment  of  her  desire. 
This  wit  must  be  trained  to  serve  higher  uses.  Her 
ambitions  and  passions  must  be  harnessed  to  loftier 
ideals  than  those  of  the  slave  wife  of  the  days  of 
Arabi  and  Saladin.  The  arousal  of  a  new  self- 
respect  must  be  brought  about  together  with  the 
awakening  consciousness,  already  in  evidence,  that 
being  simply  a  wife  does  not  exhaust  the  reaches  of 
feminine  career,  but  that  a  woman  can  also  be 
capable  of  transforming  a  tawdry  house  into  a 
home  of  culture  and  refinement. 

The  union  of  her  powers  with  those  of  her  husband 
in  philanthropy  and  religion  ;  the  enlarging  sphere 
of  the  intelligent  upbringing  of  children  ;  the  educa- 
tion and  use  of  money  beyond  its  vulgar  expression 
in  bedecking  the  body  with  heavy  and  rude  jewellery ; 
in  short,  the  transformation  of  the  present  shut-in, 
more  or  less  dependent,  fearful,  and  sometimes 
sensual  woman,  into  a  veritable  help-meet,  wife,  and 
mother,  as  those  terms  hold  the  content  of  all  that 
is  helpful,  devoted  and  holy  in  Western  imagina- 
tion,— this  must  occur  in  order  that  the  woman  of  the 
Nile  may  be  free  and  ready  to  enter  into  her  new 
destiny.  This  is  also  the  problem,  the  inevitable 
necessity,  the  Egyptian  Question ;  it  confronts  the 
woman  and  the  man  alike  in  present-day  Egypt. 


373 


CONCLUSION 


375 


But  is  this  all  ?  Is  woman's  occupation  for  the 
sake  of  service  to  others  in  home  and  State  the 
whole  story  of  her  redemption,  the  whole  secret  of 
her  reformed  existence  in  Egypt  ?  No  !  Neither 
is  it  half  the  story  for  her  ;  it  is  not  half  of  all  that 
life  may  hold  for  this  woman  primeval.  These  are 
but  the  wages  she  will  gladly  pay  for  love  and  the 
right  to  choose  her  mate.  Down  below  custom, 
tradition,  Orientalism,  even  below  Islam  itself,  is 
the  heart  of  a  woman,  and  there  is  but  one  word 
that  is  sovereign  and  final  in  that  realm. 

Silent  and  alone  in  the  shadow  of  the  limestone 
hills  at  Denderah,  well  back  from  the  Nile,  the 
Egyptian  traveller,  after  a  long  dusty  donkey  ride 
from  the  Nile  boats,  finds  before  him  a  comparatively 
young  Egyptian  temple — it  is  only  two  thousand 
years  old — the  Temple  of  the  Goddess  Hathor,  the 
Egyptian  Aphrodite.  It  is  a  relic  of  the  Ptolomies 
broken  and  ruined ;  defaced  by  Christian  Copts, 
it  stands  dark,  tragic,  superb — a  beautiful  sad 
temple  of  the  Desert,  sad  in  the  air  of  spent  pleasures, 
in  the  air  of  a  day  that  is  dead.  Cleopatra  is  graven 
in  stone  on  the  back  of  the  temple,  with  Caesarion, 
her  son,  at  her  side.  A  Sheikh's  tomb  adds  to  the 
solemn  impression.  All  about  are  the  pale  sands 
of  the  desert  and  the  barren  hills. 


376  THE  WOMEN  OF  EGYPT 


But  amid  the  pathos  of  these  emblems  there  is 
pointed  out  to  the  traveller  a  staircase — "  the  stair- 
case of  the  New  Year"  as  it  is  called;  priests  in 
stone  are  pointing  up  to  the  light  above  it — the 
rays  of  Ra,  all  are  pointing  up,  up  to  where  the 
Egyptian  sun  is  blazing  light  about  the  figure  of 
the  white  goddess. 

Is  it  a  kind  of  prophetic  "  vision  splendid  "  of  the 
New  Egypt,  of  the  Woman  of  Egypt  ?  And  is  she 
just  beginning  to  climb  those  stairs  of  the  New  Year, 
slowly  upward,  but  certainly  upward,  as  the  new 
day  lures  her  on,  into  the  Light  that  leads  even 
clearer  than  that  which  blazed  about  the  heathen 
goddess  ? 


INDEX 


Almsgiving,  329 
Amusements  in  Cairo,  241 
Animals  for  food,  the  law  of 

killing,  331 
Assiut,  202,  222,  345,  354,  356 

Bazaars  in  Cairo,  51-55 

—  woman  customers  in,  29 
Bedouin,  the,  150 

—  chief,  a,  253 

—  children,  263 

—  guest-house,  a,  255 

—  harem,  a,  254 

—  home,  a,  259 

—  tent,  in  a,  247 

—  the  liberty  of  the,  157 

—  tribal  customs,  248 
Bedouins,  among  the,  242-284 

—  the  hospitality  of,  242-284 
Betrothal  customs,  205-209 
Birthday  feasts,  289 

Cairo,  cosmopolitan,  3 1  ;  street 
merchants,  34  ;  scarabs,  34, 
37  ;  fly  switches,  38  ;  donkeys 
and  donkey  boys,  39,  40  ; 
types  of  people  in,  43  ;  vege- 
table sellers  of,  48  ;  street 
kitchens  of,  48  ;  scribes  of, 
51  ;  bazaars  in,  51-55  ;  the 
charms  of,  55  ;  mosques  of, 
56-59  ;  cafes  and  restaur- 
ants, 59-68  ;  keeping  house 
in,  98-125  ;    house- hunting 


in,  98  ;  the  market-place, 
105  ;  marketing  in,  105- 
118  ;  the  sewing  lady,  121  ; 
housekeeping  experiences  in, 
122  ;  amusements  in,  241 
Camel,  the,  267 

—  legend  of  the,  94 

—  riding  a,  270 
Characteristics   and  customs, 

126 
Charity,  329 
Charms  of  Cairo,  the,  55 
"Charms"   of  the  Egyptian 

woman,  305 
"Charms"   and  superstition, 

299-314 
Chiefs,  Bedouin,  256 
Child  marriages,  202 
Children,  Bedouin,  263 

—  effect  of  divorce  upon  the, 
220 

—  Egyptian,  285 

—  Koranic  laws  regarding  the 
treatment  of,  290 

—  of  the  lower  class,  293 
Christian  missions,  348 
Cities  along  the  Nile,  88 
Cleanliness,  rules  for,  334 
Coptic  Church,  the,  338 

—  institutions  and  the  Govern- 
ment, 346 

—  marriage  celebrations,  342 

—  priest,  the,  339 

—  religion,  the,  337~347 


377 


378 


INDEX 


Copts,  the,  337 

—  and  Moslems,  the  difference 
between,  343 

Cosmopolitan  Cairo,  31 
Courtyard  shopping,  236 
Cupid's  tragedy,  211 
Customs,  betrothal,  205-209 

Desert  homes,  274 

—  the  woman  of  the,  1 50 
Dinner  party,  a,  232 
Divorce,  Egypt's  triple,  215 

—  the  effect  of,  upon  the  chil- 
dren, 220 

—  the  high  percentage  of,  214 
Divorced    wife's  possessions, 

217 

Donkeys  and  donkey  boys,  39, 
40 

Dreams,  313 
Dress,  134,  137,  145 

—  jewellery  and  gossip,  229 

Education,  27,  161-179,  355 

—  facilities,  missionary,  359 
■ —  and  liberty,  174 

—  the  progress  of,  1 70 

—  of  a  sheikh,  the,  81 

—  religious,  168 

Edwards,  Miss  Amelia  B.,  268 
Effect   of   divorce   upon  the 

children,  the,  220 
Egypt  of  the  temples,  96 
Egyptian  children,  285 

—  furniture,  130,  134 

—  harem,  the,  180-199 

—  lady,  the,  129 

—  mother,  the,  290 

—  woman,  the  "charms"  of 
the,  305 

 and  the  Egyptian  ques- 
tion, 364-376 
 the  progress  of,  28 

—  women,  characteristics  and 
customs,  of,  126 


Egyptian  women  of  the  middle 

class,  133 
 the  predominate  desire 

of,  200 

 types  of,  126 

Egyptians,  the  original,  337 
Egypt's  triple  divorce,  215 
El  Azhar,  81,  369 
Emancipation  of  women,  the, 

360 

Entertainment,  a  women's,  232 
Evil  eye,  the,  306 

—  spirits,  299 

Fairies  or  "ginns,"  299 
Fasting,  329 

Fear  of  being  seen  by  men,  the, 
194 

Feasts,  birthday,  289 

Fellaha,  the,  145 

Fly  switches,  38 

Followers  of  Mohammed,  the, 

322 

Furniture,  Egyptian,  130,  134 

"  Ginns,"  fairies  or,  299 
Girls,  difficulties  of  educating, 

166 

Gods  of  the  Nile,  310 
Gossip,  dress  and  jewellery,  229 
Government  and  Coptic  insti- 
tutions, the,  346 
Guest-house,  a  Bedouin,  255 

Harem,  a  Bedouin,  254 

—  control  of  the,  197 

—  the  Egyptian,  180 

—  influence  of  Koran  in  the, 
187 

—  life  in  the,  188 

—  the  seclusion  of  the,  180,  183 

—  woman  the  preserver  of,  198 
Hatshepsut,  Queen,  27 

Head  covering,  1 54 
Heaven,  Moslem's,  326 
Holy  Communion,  Coptic,  34 1 


INDEX 


379 


Home,  a  Bedouin,  259 
Homes,  desert,  274 
Hospitality  of  the  Bedouins, 

242-284 
House-hunting  in  Cairo,  98 
Housekeeping   experiences  in 

Cairo,  122 
Houses,  village,  145. 

Incubator,  a  village,  85 

Infant  mortality,  294 

Influence  of  Western  civiliza- 
tion, the,  129 

Interpretation  of  the  Koran, 
the,  331 

Islam,  El,  315 

—  a  man's  religion,  325 

Jewellery,  137,  138,  141,  142, 
150 

—  dress  and  gossip,  229 

Khadijah,  316 
Koran,  the,  320 

—  in  the  harem,  influence  of, 
187 

—  the  interpretation  of  the, 

—  prohibitory  laws  of  the,  330 
Koranic  laws  regarding  treat- 
ment of  children,  290 

—  laws  for  women,  323 
Kutb,  303 

Legend  of  the  camel,  94 
Liberty  of  the  Bedouin,  the,  157 

—  and  education,  174 
Life  in  the  harem,  188 

—  along  the  Nile,  73-97 

Market-place  Cairo,  the,  10$ 
Marriage  celebrations,  Coptic, 
342 

—  preparations  for,  201 
Marriages,  child,  202 


Mecca,  315,  316,319,  328,  333, 
344 

Medical  work,  missionary,  360 
Meeting-places  of  women,  the, 
235 

Men,  the  fear  of  being  seen  by, 
194 

Missionary  advance,  351 

—  difficulties,  349 

—  educational  facilities,  359 

—  medical  work,  360 

—  methods,  352 

—  worker,  a,  359 
Mohammed,  the  followers  of, 

322 

—  the  persecution  of,  319 

—  the  Prophet,  3 1 5 
Mohammedan  prayers,  319 

—  religion,  the,  315 

—  religious  laws,  327 
Moslems,  the  differences  be- 
tween Copts  and,  343 

Moslem's  heaven,  326 
Mosques  of  Cairo,  56-59 
Mother,  the  Egyptian,  290 

New  freedom,  the,  364 

—  generation,  the,  368 
Nile,  cities  along  the,  88 

—  gods  of  the,  310 

—  life  along  the,  73-97 

—  villages  along  the,  74,  77,  78, 
85,  88,  89,  90-94,  142 

People  in  Cairo,  types  of,  43 
Persecution    of  Mohammed, 

the,  319 
Pigeon  house,  a,  85 
Polygamy,  220 
Position  of  woman,  the,  322 
Prayers,  Mohammedan,  319 

—  for  sons,  286 
Predominate  desire  of  Egyptian 

women,  the,  200 
Priest,  the  Coptic,  339 
Progress  of  education,  the,  1 70 


380 


INDEX 


Prohibitory  laws  of  the  Koran, 
Pyramids,  the,  68-72 

Religion,  the  Coptic,  337-347 

—  the  Mohammedan,  315 
Religious  education,  168 

—  laws,  Mohammedan,  327 
Restaurants  and  cafes  in  Cairo, 

59-68 

Sakkia  and  Shadoof,  the,  90-93 
Scarabs,  34,  37 
Schools,  165 

—  old,  78,  81 
Scribes  in  Cairo,  5 1 
Seclusion  of  the  harem,  180,183 
Shadoof  and  Sakkia,  the,  90-93 
Sheikh,  the  education  of  a,  81 
Shopping,  courtyard,  236 
Sons,  prayers  for,  286 
Sphinx,  the,  71-72 

Street  kitchens  in  Cairo,  48 

—  merchants,  34 
Superstition   and    "  charms," 

299-314 

Tattooing,  154 

Temples,  Egypt  of  the,  96 


Tribal  customs,  248 
Trumbull,  H.  C.,  242 
Turban,  the  respect  of  the,  44 
Types  of  Egyptian  women,  126 

Vegetable  sellers  in  Cairo,  48 
Village  houses,  145 

—  incubator,  a,  85 

Villages  along  the  Nile,  74,  77, 

78,  85,  88,  89,  9o-94.  142 
Visiting,  women,  188,  226 

"  Wellees,"  302 
Western  civilization,  the  influ- 
ence of,  129 
Wife,  the  duties  of  a,  224 
Woman  of  the  desert,  the,  1 50 

—  Koranic  laws  for,  323 

—  the  position  of,  322 

—  the  preserver  of  the  harem, 
198 

Woman's  past,  24 
Women  customers  in  bazaars, 
29 

—  the  emancipation  of,  360 

—  the  meeting -places  of,  235 

—  of  the  lower  class,  137 

—  of  the  middle  class,  133 

—  visiting,  188,  226 
Women's  entertainment,  a,  232 


Printed  by  Hazell,  Watson  &  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury,  England. 


DATE  DUE 


HIGHSMITH      #  45220 


